Mako Island
by Stand bi me
Summary: A massive 'competition' leads 8 trainers to a new and mysterious island inhabited by psychotic Pokemon. "All of the other regions, the Elite Four, the Gym Leaders, the trainers, they trust us. We are both trusted people. Do you see what I'm trying to say?" Her eyes glistened as she heard this. "Of course I see it. It means that we're in the perfect position to get away with this."
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

**Welcome. As a lot of you know, this isn't like any of my other stories. It's different. It's huge. It's new. And it's filled with hundreds of brilliant ideas I've had for ages that are finally being written down.**

**Warning: please keep your hands and legs inside the vehicle at all times. All the Pokemon here are from the fourth generation and below. The characters, with the exception of a few, are all mine. I'm keeping the chapters short for now but as we progress they'll increase in length. So look out for frequent updates and good writing ;)**

**And with no further ado, the prologue. Where it all begins. **

**Thank you.**

* * *

"What is _with_ all the wild pokemon in this bloody region?"

Her Aerodactyl viciously chased after the baby Vulpix.

"Technically, this island is too small to be considered a region on its own..."

His words flew right over her head.

"VUL-PIX!"

Giant scorching embers blazed from the Vulpix's mouth. The Aerodactyl flew right through the fire and swung its rock hard wing mercilessly against the Vulpix's leg.

"It's a damn baby! It should not be this strong!" she continued ranting.

The Vulpix flew into the air and was slammed against a boulder. It immediately caught balance with its tails and flung itself forward, shooting bursts of lava from its mouth. Aerodactyl took a direct hit and soared high into the sky to avoid any more flames.

"Mightyena GO!"

She threw another pokeball into the air, and the sun's harsh rays caught it at the peak of its throw. The ball burst open, and with a huge flash of light the furry grey pokemon landed on the ground on all fours. It bared its teeth menacingly and growled.

"CRUNCH! Now!"

The Mightyena leapt into the air. Tiny wisps of darkness curled from its snarled mouth as it attacked the Vulpix in mid-flight almost tearing off its leg.

"SLASH!"

The Mightyena aimed for its face. Its dark claw sliced through the Vulpix's skin, carving a massive scar right across it eye. The Vulpix screeched in pain.

An Arcanine ran onto the scene and slammed itself into the Mightyena, pushing it away from the Vulpix.

"There is no need to be so harsh!" the man who sent the Arcanine called out, "That Vulpix is just a baby and you are hurting it!"

He ran a hand through his long black hair. The Vulpix landed on its side and whimpered, holding its severely injured leg close to its body. A warm, fiery liquid dripped from the scar across its eye. The Mightyena took a step toward it but the Arcanine stood firm in its way. The woman closed her eyes slowly and reached down to grab a pokeball from her waistband.

"Mightyena, return."

The Vulpix lay there breathing heavily and the Aerodactyl came back, landing gracefully at its trainer's side.

"This is not the way to learn more about the pokemon on this island!"

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Then we're going to have to go through with our plan."

He hesitated.

"Listen," she continued, "that Vulpix was just born. If even the baby Pokemon on this island can put up a fight against _my _Aerodactyl -"

Aerodactyl shifted uncomfortably.

"-then just imagine the limit of all the others!"

"I understand all of that-" he began. He watched as his Arcanine gently coaxed the limping Vulpix back into the forest. "-but are you _sure_you want to get others involved in this?"

"If it means getting what I want in the end, then yes." Her short blonde hair swayed in the wind.

"You're completely egocentric!" he barked at her.

Her eyes sparkled. "You flatter me."

"I'm serious! This could be dangerous you know! The pokemon here," he paused to try and find the right words, "they're on _steroids_! Or _something_!"

"Or _something," _she remarked. "Exactly."

There was an eerie silence that hung for a second in the air.

"You can't just bring anybody to the island."

"It won't be just anybody. They'll be the best. And only the best."

He sighed. His Arcanine walked up to him and leaned its giant furry head against his shoulder.

"All of the other regions, they trust us." He put an arm around his Arcanine and continued. "All of the Elite Fours, the Gym Leaders, the trainers, they trust us. We are two of the strongest Pokemon Masters out there. We defeated the Champion in each region, and we are both_ trusted_ people."

He paused to see if any of it was sinking in.

"Do you see what I'm trying to say?"

A wry grin grew along the front of her face as she turned to look at him, her eyes glistening. "Of course I see it. It means that we're in the perfect position to get away with this."

* * *

**-stbime**


	2. Chapter 2

-_Six months later-_

He eyed me wearily, seemingly just as out of breath as his pokemon.

"Froslass, ice beam!" he tried again.

The tired Froslass shrieked as it let out a giant, jagged blast of ice energy from its mouth. My Mismagius picked up my Roserade and floated quickly out of the way. The crowd roared at the dodge and applauded endlessly as the battle approached its finish. The boy's Camerupt stomped its hoof and snorted plumes of smoke into the air in frustration.

"Hang on just a little bit longer, Camerupt!" he called out to his fire pokemon.

"Both of you, shadow ball!" I yelled to my two.

As Mismagius tossed Roserade into the air, balls of darkness began to form at the tips of their projecting limbs before firing almost instantly from their bodies and aiming straight for the Froslass. As the shadow balls hit the ice ghost, Roserade landed softly on the ground, taking a graceful bow and crossing her roses in front of her. The Froslass went down, but not before I noticed the glimpse in its trainer's eye from across the arena.

The trainers in this tournament were scary strong, and that did not make me feel too good about where this was going.

"The Froslass is unable to battle!" the announcer called out, snapping me back from my thoughts.

The boy returned the fainted Froslass as a devious grin spread across his face. I waited patiently albeit nervously for his next pokemon to be sent out.

Don't get me wrong. I was pretty scary good too, only one battle away from the top ten, in fact. All I had to do was beat this kid, and I had my spot. He was strong, but he was young, maybe fourteen or fifteen years old or so, and I refused to let down my guard. Me, on the other hand, I have years of experience under my belt. Sure it's definitely been a while, but everyone who was in this competition was chosen, and for a reason. Three years of down time meant nothing.

Instead of throwing out another pokeball, and before I could do anything about it, the boy cupped his hands over his mouth and screamed at his Camerupt. "NOW! Camerupt, ERUPTION!"

It caught me off guard. He had been waiting for his Froslass to get out of the way the entire time. The Camerupt's volcanoes were bubbling constantly and had been readyto unleash their power for the longest while. Before I could do anything, giant mounds of blazing lava burst into the arena, the molten acid viciously coating my pokemon before my eyes. I jerked forward, about to run onto the arena and save them, but I stopped myself as my foot touched the white boarder line painted around it. That would mean forfeiting.

"Roserade!" I called out, my voice hoarse with pain.

The boy smirked. His Camerupt was already weakened, and we both had more pokemon, but he probably figured this had just given him an advantage. He'd have to think again.

Sure, he was chosen for a reason to be here. He was one of the best. But we were _all _chosen to be here, and he wasn't the only one with surprises up his sleeve.

"Rose-er-ade!" she shrieked through the steaming magma, exploding giant bombs of sludge from her roses just before falling back and fainting.

My Mismagius had fainted from the lava too, but not before I took a look at the Camerupt and saw him shaking from the poison. I smiled. He was badly poisoned. I returned my fainted pokemon and watched as one last shiver caused the giant Camerupt to shut his eyes tightly and fall over, passed out.

"And all three pokemon are DOWN!" the announcer screamed over the roaring crowd.

The boy looked up in shock. His smirk disappeared. This was serious. He stuffed his hand down his belt and pulled out two tiny pokeballs, one in each hand. He pushed the button and with a quick, metallic sound they instantly enlarged. He tossed them both into the arena and they released their pokemon with a giant flash. Almost immediately my gut sank. A Breloom and a Vileplume appeared, ready to fight.

I had to make this happen. I knew I could. I grabbed my last two pokeballs and threw them into the sky. Each one liberated its contents with a burst of white light, falling back into my hands as my pokemon appeared on the field.

"OH!" the announcer exclaimed, trying his hardest to hold back his personal opinion, but failing miserably. "This _cannot _be good…"

The audience fell silent. I looked across the arena at my opponent. His devious smirk had returned, bigger now than ever.

* * *

**-stbime **


	3. Chapter 3

I bit my lip, feeling my fists clenching at my sides. Nothing irked me to do better more than a bunch of people who thought that I couldn't.

The Vileplume and Breloom smirked as they stared fearlessly at their opponents.

"Ready to win?" the trainer asked his grass pokemon as he smiled at me.

The Breloom stepped back with one leg and crouched into a fighting position, arms bent at each side and ready to punch. The Vileplume lowered its head, tiny spores oozing out of the giant red flower as little balls of sunlight pooled together there threateningly.

I didn't care what type his pokemon were. Only a fool would assume a win based on a type advantage, no matter how great the type advantage. I wasn't losing this. Just watch me.

"Solar beam, now!" he called out to his Vileplume.

The Vileplume all too eagerly completed the glowing ball of sunlight that floated above its head and jumped, releasing a blinding beam of charged light at my Lumineon.

I was going to show them how this was done.

"Lumineon, bounce!"

In a flash the blue fish was soaring into the air as the solar beam blasted past the spot he had just been in, incinerating everything in its path. It was powerful. This kid was no joke. But strategy beats strength any day. I took Lumineon's aerial positioning to my advantage.

"Golem, earthquake!"

With a wry grin, I watched as my Golem scoffed at the grass pokemon, obviously unafraid, and stomped the ground with a clawed, heavy foot. That dealt some serious damage, and completely knocked the Vileplume off its feet.

"Now Lumineon!"

Lumineon tightened its body and sprang onto the Breloom, dealing a heavy, doubly effective blow to its side. The Breloom winced.

Screams erupted from the crowd as more and more tension filled the battle grounds.

"Breloom!" the trainer called out, desperately holding back the urge to rush in and help his wounded fighter.

His smile faded and he looked angrily at me.

"Vileplume, load the air with poison powder!"

The Vileplume took a deep breath and with a giant, internal thrust, huge puffs of glittering purple smoke filled the air.

"Golem, get away from that! Use dig!"

My Golem burrowed himself under ground in seconds, disappearing from the arena. The moment my Lumineon inhaled the powder, he coughed violently.

"Bear through it! I know you can! Ice beam!"

Lumineon shook his head and violently thrust his body into the air, facing down and firing an icy blue beam at the Vileplume. It cringed at the instantly freezing cold, super effective blow.

"Seed bomb, Breloom!"

Grassy bombs exploded into the arena as the Breloom went wild with the attack. Lumineon was hit. Badly.

"Now!" I screamed.

Golem burst from the ground and slammed his huge, thick, rock body into the Breloom and immediately threw it over, halting its attack.

"Giga drain!"

Giant green bubbles formed around my Golem and were painfully sucked over to the Vileplume and absorbed into its skin. My rock pokemon roared and fell back.

Just then a giant explosion flared from the building that towered over the arena where all of the competition's winners were staying after their battles. A huge jolt of electricity thundered down on the arena and knocked out all the pokemon battling except my Golem. Panicked screams erupted from the audience as another lightning bolt struck the ground.

"What the-"

I looked up and saw my opponent frantically returning his pokemon. I fumbled for my pokeballs and did the same. What in the world was going on?

More lightning slammed into the ground. The announcer stood up and tried to see what was going on inside the winners' room from his spot above the battlefield.

"It seems that the-"

More lightning struck and the crowd screamed, everyone frantically trying to escape at once. Sparks flew from the announcer's speakers as his voice was abruptly stopped and the speakers went up in flames. More electricity was fired from the tower, and explosions on the stands were starting more and more fires.

My opponent ran for cover, and I quickly and cluelessly followed. The sparks had set the whole tower on fire, and I couldn't help but wonder whose pokemon was out of control enough to do this. The only people in that tower were the contestants who had made the top ten in the competition thus far, so I had no doubt their pokemon would be strong enough to cause as much damage as this. Although I would have preferred to think they were also controlled enough _not _to cause as much damage as this.

A Dragonite burst through the glass windows of the tower, dodging a bolt of electricity and carrying its trainer on its back. The trainer had a fierce, determined look on his face, the bangs of his light brown hair flying in front of his eyes in the wind. Another jolt of electricity burst through the flames of the burning tower towards the Dragonite who shot a throbbing, blue dragon pulse right back, countering the attack and successfully cutting off all electricity that was being produced. The blue waves continued to pulsate from the dragon's mouth.

I had seen that guy in battle. His pokemon were powerful, and as if that weren't enough, they were intimidating too. That dragon pulse right there had been intense. It had to have caused whatever electric pokemon that was in there to faint. All of the sparks had stopped but the flames they had created raged on. People screamed for cover trying desperately to escape the burning stands.

I looked up and saw a lady fly out of the tower on an Aerodactyl, her mouth set in a firm line, and her crystal blue eyes glimmering angrily in the sun. She threw a pokeball violently into the air and it expelled her Lapras with a giant flash.

"Rain dance. NOW!" she yelled, her short blonde hair blowing all over her face.

Clouds thundered above as the sky darkened.

"Lap-rasssssss!"

Fierce torrents of water instantly gushed from the clouds, icy drops stinging my skin as I followed my now former opponent into the shelter at the corner of the arena. The fires slowly died as the boy who had initially stopped the electric attacks swooped down on his Dragonite to follow us. He jumped off the pokemon's back while it was still a few feet in the air and landed on the muddy ground below. His pokeball was already in his hand as he turned around and returned the yellow dragon, proceeding to jog towards us underneath the roof.

"Thanks, buddy," he whispered to the red and white ball before shoving it into his pocket.

The guy reached us and hunched over, resting his palms on his thighs and panting heavily. His shirt was wet and it clung to his body tightly, revealing outline after outline. He looked up at me, his wet, brown hair dripping in front of his hazel green eyes. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks.

He stood up straight and smiled at me.

"Kansas," he said, holding out his hand, "nice to meet you."

I must have forgotten to breathe for a split second there, because I didn't answer him.

"What _happened_ up there?" the boy I had been battling asked in shock.

Kansas withdrew his hand and ran it through his wet hair.

"Some kid in a red and white cap and his out of control Pikachu."

We watched as the blue-eyed lady swooped down on her Aerodactyl and returned her Lapras. The rain lightened but didn't stop.

_That_ was Anastasia. She was pretty famous all over the region, and her pokemon were some of the most powerful, well trained pokemon in existence.

Her Aerodactyl landed next to her and folded its grey wings at its side, standing in the rain like it wasn't a rock pokemon who was weak against the attack.

Anastasia was in charge of this entire competition. Not by herself, though. Lazaro helped her.

"Lazaro!" she called out angrily, pulling all of her wet, blonde hair to one side of her head and squeezing it out despite the present, enduring rain.

On cue, an Arcanine bounded out of the same giant hole in the wall of the winners' tower. Its trainer was riding on its back, eyes set and face expressionless.

Was he crazy to bring out an Arcanine in the rain?

"Sunny day, let's go!" he told his pokemon.

The Arcanine landed gracefully, front paws first, on one of the higher stands, then leapt immediately again into the air. Time seemed to slow down as the giant, furry dog reached its peak in midair, pausing for the slightest second to lift its head to the sky and release a long, warm burst of flames directly upwards. The rain slowed down and by the time the Arcanine had landed back on the ground, it had stopped completely. I didn't take my eyes off of it even for a second. The man jumped down and dusted the back of his pants, turning back to his pokemon and giving it a quick rub on the back before returning it.

Lazaro stood at Anastasia's side and took a deep, exasperated breath. The entire crowd had gone, leaving the stands completely empty. Anastasia continued tugging at her wet hair with frustration, squeezing out the excess water. Her Aerodactyl cawed as the trainers who had made the top ten so far started walking out of the winners' tower and heading over.

Then I remembered my match. We didn't get to finish. There had only been one spot left in the top ten, and it just had to be me.

I heard a shoe scrape on the ground and looked up as Kansas, the guy with the Dragonite, turned on his heels and started walking over to be with the other winners. I felt a piece of me leave as I stared at his back while he walked away. He had a thing to him, the way he carried himself.

I looked back at the boy I had been battling. He was staring at me with a frustrated expression. I didn't like it.

"Chansey! Chansey!"

Two Chansey came running out of the tower with a kid on a stretcher. He had dark, ashy hair that seemed to spark at random instances and a burnt blue jacket and torn jeans. He lay unconscious, his face twitching with electricity.

Another Chansey came out after with a fainted Pikachu. Tiny jolts of electricity lashed out from the red dots on its cheeks, and the Chansey took extra caution not to get shocked. Nurse Joy followed soon afterwards, and led them into the van to be taken to the centre.

"That's what happens when pokemon get too spoiled and refuse to get into their pokeballs," Anastasia spat. "And he was one of the better trainers out of you lot, too."

Lazaro stood straight, scratching his head which was covered in his long, dark hair.

Anastasia continued. "Either way, he's disqualified now. Our competition will not tolerate that. I simply refuse."

Lazaro looked down solemnly. Anastasia's dominance in the partnership burned.

"We still need ten winners, however…" she scanned over the eight, young, eager faces looking back at her.

The kid standing next to me jumped. The two of us stood to the side of everyone else. I looked at him and I saw his eyes flutter. I clenched my fists at my sides and bit down on my lip. I wouldn't jump to any conclusions. I didn't even know what was in store for the top ten, though I definitely deserved it for making it this far in the competition, didn't I? I never knew getting back into to it would be so – fun. Anastasia turned her neck slowly and looked at us. I felt my breath hitch in my throat.

"You two."

Lazaro looked up and turned his gaze towards us as well. He looked kind of - sad?

Anastasia smiled and cocked her head. "Come over here."

My opponent was already half way through his first step, approaching her almost too eagerly. I felt myself hold back a bit. Maybe people in charge were _supposed_ to be straight up and intimidating like that.

I scanned the winners for Kansas as I approached. He was the only one I knew, or at least technically knew. I didn't even know my last opponent's name. And we had both just made the top ten. And all of these winners, they all looked so strong and intimidating and scary. I found Kansas easily. He was the only one with wet hair and he was standing next to a girl. My heart stopped for a bit. She was one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen, at least from the back. Her dark hair curled just at the ends and their tips reached down to her waist. I went and stood on Kansas's other side and nudged him gently with my elbow. He looked at me and winked. I raised my eyebrows and shrugged as we both turned our attention back to Anastasia. She was clearing her throat.

I soon realized I couldn't bring myself to even focus on her anymore. I leaned forward and looked passed Kansas to the girl standing on his other side. She raised a slender hand and tucked a long strand of hair behind her ears, revealing the side of her face to me. I took a deep breath. She even_ smelled_ beautiful.

"Congratulations-" Anastasia began.

The girl turned to the side and looked back at me. My heart raced as our eyes met. I tried a shy smile.

"-to the ten of you for making it to the final stage in our mission."

Lazaro kicked her foot gently. I wasn't even paying attention to them.

The girl rose her eyebrows, unimpressed, scoffed at me, then turned back to face Anastasia. My gut sank.

"Our _competition_," Anastasia quickly corrected, her eyes sparkling as she squeezed the final drips of water out of her damp hair.

* * *

**Hope you're all at least a little confused by now**

**-stbime**


	4. Chapter 4

"You lot are the ten lucky ones who have just won yourselves a chance to the next and final stage of this huge – _race._"

She paused, her eyes glistening.

I remained staring at the girl standing on Kansas's other side.

"Tomorrow," Anastasia continued as she looked down at all of us, "you will be interviewed. Reporters from all over the region are coming to meet our competition's winners and introduce you all to the public."

Lazaro stood at her side and ran a hand through his long black hair.

"You are all to dress appropriately and be on your best behaviors."

I bit my lip. I just wanted to know that girl's name. Why hadn't I been paying attention when she was battling? Maybe Kansas knew her.

I felt a sharp thud in my side.

_Pay attention!_ Kansas mouthed to me.

I immediately stood straight and turned my attention to Anastasia. I could tell from the side that Kansas was looking at me. I looked at him and he smiled. I smiled back and laughed quietly to myself. There was something about his smile…

"You are all to report back to the Pokemon Centre tonight, where I will go over the rules of the last round, and then we set off tomorrow for –"

Lazaro nudged her gently.

"Oh. Well, you'll find out where we're going soon enough."

Anastasia raised one of her hands in the air and snapped her fingers. Her Aerodactyl spread its wings and lowered itself so she could hop onto its back, side-saddle. Lazaro threw a pokeball up and with a blast of light released his Pidgeot. He jumped into the air and the giant beige bird swooped under and caught him on its back.

"Be back at the Centre by six on the dot you guys," Lazaro told us.

I don't even remember ever hearing his voice until just now. I guess he didn't talk much. Once they left a small uproar began among the top ten. Which I was now a part of.

"I heard they've discovered a new region," my opponent from earlier blurted out.

"Well I heard that it's not even going to be considered a region. It's just a huge island."

More of them started joining in.

"Are there new pokemon there?"

"What does this even have to do with us?"

"Are we gonna be the first ones to go there?"

I just stood at Kansas's side and listened. A new region?

"I heard the pokemon there are crazy."

"GUYS!"

Kansas spoke up. Everyone turned to listen.

"Everything will be explained tonight. It makes no sense trying to guess anything."

I saw everyone nodding slowly in agreement. Except one girl. She had been looking at me, and when our eyes met she turned away. Her golden brown locks bounced just above her shoulders. She looked kind of – spacey. Her eyes seemed like she was mentally distant from everything.

I shook my head and focused on Kansas again. Everyone was gearing to leave. We had a while before we needed to be back at the Pokemon Centre but it was senseless to stick around here talking in a huge, empty, burnt pokemon arena.

Kansas grabbed a pokeball from his pocket and threw it up, releasing his Dragonite again. I couldn't take my eyes off of him.

"Bea, do you want a ride?" he called out.

The girl with the long black hair he had been standing next to nodded and smiled.

So Kansas _does_ know her. Bea.

She walked right by me. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks. Our eyes connected for only a second. I wanted to say something but it probably wouldn't have come out coherent.

"Hey."

I snapped back, turning around to see Kansas's hazel green eyes staring deep into my face. If my cheeks weren't already red from coming into eye contact with Bea, they were definitely red now.

"Congratulations, buddy," he told me with a light touch to my shoulder.

I felt my shoulder tingle.

"Th-thanks," I stuttered.

He smiled at me. "I never got your name, by the way."

"Oh, I'm-"

"Hey Kansas, are we going?"

We both looked up at Bea. She was sitting on Kansas's Dragonite brushing her hair with a big pink brush.

"Yes of course!" he looked at me. "I'll, I'll see you back at the Centre in a few, yeah?"

I nodded and watched as he hopped onto his Dragonite. He sat in front of Bea. She put her brush away and wrapped her arms around his waist. I bit my lip and stared as Dragonite flapped its wings and took off into the air.

I felt a tap on my back. I turned around quickly and saw my opponent from earlier. His eyes were on the ground.

"Good match today," he told me.

"It was pretty close, you know."

He nodded. I held out my hand and he shook it.

"I look forward to meeting you in the next round then."

I smiled.

He reached for a pokeball from his pocket and threw it into the air. "I'll see you back at the centre!"

There was huge flash of light as an Altaria emerged from the pokeball. It pecked him playfully a couple times before he grabbed her neck and laughed, jumping onto her cloudy back and slowly lifting off.

I noticed the other trainers leaving. Almost all of them had flying pokemon. I cringed. I guess I was walking back to the pokemon centre.

"Hey watch out!"

"WOAH!"

I turned around and saw a giant metal bird take off into the air with its trainer on its back.

"Mmph.."

I looked down and saw a girl on the floor. Her curly gold hair was a mess all over her face.

"Woops!" the trainer called out from above.

"Skarmory!"

The Skarmory took off with its trainer into the sky.

_What a jerk, _I thought as I ran to help the girl who had been knocked over.

There was another boy already helping her when I got there. He had rusty brown hair. We were the only three left in the arena after everyone had left.

"Is she okay?"

I bit my lip. She looked up at me as the other boy helped her up. Her eyes seemed blank. It was the girl who had been looking at me earlier. Her face still had that spacey look to it.

"She seems to be fine…"

The girl turned her face away from me and her cheeks turned red.

"I am okay." She stood up and dusted herself off.

"That guy should have been more careful," the other boy said.

I nodded in agreement and watched as she fumbled along her belt for something.

"Why didn't you jump out of the way when he warned you?" the boy asked.

She didn't answer him.

We both looked at each other. I shrugged.

"Hey."

He tapped her shoulder and she quickly looked up at him.

"How come you didn't get out of the way after the guy called out to you?"

She stared at his face and paused for a bit.

"Oh. I - did not hear him."

She grabbed two of her pokeballs from her waist and threw them into the air. They opened and a big brown rabbit jumped out and stood immediately by her side.

"Lopunny!"

It grabbed onto her hand and held it.

The other pokeball released a Drifblim that hovered quietly above them.

"Thank you - for helping me."

Her face was soft and humble. Her mind seemed to be somewhere else. She held on to her Lopunny's paw as the Drifblim lowered itself to the ground.

"Y-you're welcome…"

The other boy and I looked at each other and shrugged. I bit my lip as her Lopunny lead her forward. They climbed onto the Drifblim and floated away.

"She seemed, unresponsive."

I nodded.

"Like she wasn't all there."

"Mhm."

How could she have not heard the guy call out to her? He basically yelled. And he was an idiot too though. He didn't even stay back to help her.

"I'm Tyson by the way." He was looking at me with his pale brown eyes.

"Jamie." I shook his hand.

"It's nice meeting you." He smiled. His face was dotted with a few light freckles on each cheek. I smiled back.

"Have you got a ride back to the centre?"

My smile left.

"Nah, I was just gonna walk…"

"You can come with me." He reached down, grabbed his pokeball and threw it. "Honchkrow won't mind."

I smiled appreciatively and watched as he released his pokemon. He had this weird positive aura around him. I found it ironic he would even own a dark type pokemon. Everything about him seemed so – light.

"Honch!"

"Hop on!" he said.

The big black bird cawed and spread out its giant wings.

"Atta boy!" Tyson told it, jumping on its back and scratching its feathers.

Come to think of it, I remember watching him battle. He was like that with all of his pokemon. They were all happy and close. He had that calm, approachable look to him too. There was something else I had noticed about his pokemon as well but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I followed him up and the Honchkrow took off almost immediately. At lightning speed.

"Ah!"

I dug my fingers into the bird's back and held on for my life. And I remembered now. His pokemon were fast. All of them. Extremely. When we reached a certain altitude Honchkrow slowed down. I loosened my grip cautiously and took a deep breath, sitting up.

"You okay back there?" Tyson was laughing at me.

"I'm alright!" I smiled back.

I don't think I have any pokemon with aerial speeds like that.

"I watched your matches," Tyson said, interrupting my quick thought. "You're not bad at all you know."

I blushed. "Honestly though, I haven't battled like this in maybe three years."

"What? Why?"

"It's…"

"A long story?"

I laughed. "Yeah."

"Well if it makes a difference, you really can't tell."

It probably wasn't the smartest thing of me to do, but I hadn't really paid too much attention to any of the other's matches. I was too nervous. I also didn't want to end up getting distracted.

"Thanks," I replied. "You were pretty good yourself too. I mean, you made it didn't you?"

"Yeah but barely," he answered. "My Blaziken almost lost, but he was a trooper. Stuck it out and won me the match all on his own. I knew he could do it."

I smiled at his optimism. "If anyone barely made it, it was me. My last match didn't even finish!"

He laughed. "I saw that! I was impressed. Using a water and a rock pokemon to take down two grass types was crazy. How could you let that happen though?"

I looked away. "They were my only pokemon left. I was stuck."

A thought occurred to me. He had to have been in the winner's building when the explosion happened and interrupted my match. Maybe he could explain better what happened?

"Hey – what happened up there earlier? In that room?"

"Oh," Tyson looked down, "it was actually kind of sad. It was one of the winners. We weren't allowed into the tower with any pokemon out, and, well, his pokemon refused to get returned. And the whole situation blew out of control and his pokemon went psychotic."

I listened.

"It was a good thing Kansas came along and put him in his place. No one else was able to react quickly enough. Kansas is a tough opponent. If I had been put up against him I doubt I would have made it."

I shuddered.

"You know who Kansas is, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I met him."

Tyson turned forward and looked ahead of us. I stared at the back of his head.

"And what about that girl he was with?" I asked.

I felt myself blush. Tyson looked back and raised his eyebrow. "What about her?"

"Is she - she's tough too right?"

He nodded.

"Mhm. One of the best here."

How will I ever compete with any of these people? It's been so long. I felt like I wasn't used to any of this anymore.

"What about that girl we helped?" I bit my lip, halting my own thoughts.

"I actually didn't see her battle," Tyson told me. He thought for a bit. "She really did seem strange. I wish I did watch her match."

I nodded in agreement.

"CROW!"

Honchkrow screeched and swooped down. I grabbed its feathers instantly as we just barely managed to avoid a massive Garchomp being whorled into the air right in front of us.

"Garchomp, dragon rush!"

What the hell?

The Garchomp caught itself in midair and shook off the tiny ice crystals that had gotten stuck to his body. Its eyes glowed furiously as it dove head first back to the ground.

* * *

**-stbime**


	5. Chapter 5

"Mightyena dodge!"

The Mightyena leapt to the side. At that instant the Garchomp's dragon rush missed its opponent and it slammed itself into the ground right outside the pokemon centre.

"Ice fang, again!"

The Mightyena didn't hesitate for a second. Frosty mist escaped from its mouth and with a growl it bit down on the Garchomp, ice crystals forming around the bite.

"GAR!"

The Garchomp wailed in pain. I looked down and saw its trainer running toward it. He was one of the top ten. Panic struck my throat. I saw Anastasia standing on the sideline screaming orders at the Mightyena. The Mightyena was hers then?It leapt up from the dragon pokemon and turned to face the trainer who was running to try and help it.

"Archie watch out!" someone yelled to the trainer.

A massive flamethrower blasted onto the scene and hit the Mightyena directly, sending it flying back to the floor.

It was the boy I was battling earlier with his Camerupt. Anastasia screamed. The guy, Archie, had reached his Garchomp's side and was holding onto it, fumbling for another pokeball.

"You won't get away with what you're doing Anastasia! GO!"

He threw his pokeball into the air and with a huge flash an Empoleon landed on the battle field. It looked angry. Menacing.

"Flash Cannon!"

A giant, shining silver ball formed at the tips of its wings and was fired forward so forcefully that it created a massive recoil, sending the Empoleon flying back as it tried to brace itself against the ground.

"Flamethrower, again!"

My former opponent was back in it, his enormous Camerupt bellowing plumes of scorching flames at the Mightyena.

Why were the top ten _attacking_Anastasia's pokemon? What _happened_?

Tyson and I hovered above the centre, watching from air.

"What's going on?" Tyson screamed at me.

My face was just as shocked as his. Anastasia was furious.

"Garchomp get up!" Archie shouted. "Dragon Pulse!"

Anastasia shrieked. She threw another pokeball in the air and her Lapras came out. The more powerful pokemon that were out here the more dangerous this was going to become. I bit my lip and panicked. What could I do though? And where were the others?

"Hydro pump now!"

Doubly effective. The Camerupt was down and the earth was soaked.

"Ice beam!"

"Lap - ras!"

Doubly effective. The Garchomp fainted instantly. No one messed with Anastasia. Her nostrils were flaring as she turned to face the Empoleon. It stood its ground.

"Go!" The boy I had been battling released anther pokemon, a vicious sounding black canine that stood there and growled, massive electric sparks lashing out from its body. "Get 'em," he said.

The Luxray leapt into the air heading straight for Anastasia's Lapras.

"STOP!"

Lazaro ran out of the centre screaming.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Anastasia?"

She glared at him. "Weeding out the rats!"

The Luxray slammed its body against the Lapras and jolts of power surged at their contact point.

"Lapras use another ice beam!"

"I said STOP! Dewgong, perish song! Now!"

Lazaro threw a pokeball into the air and his Dewgong came out. It sang what sounded like the most harsh, yet painfully beautiful thing a pokemon could sing. Realization hit me. _Shit_.

Any pokemon that hears it -

"Tyson return Honchkrow now!"

"Huh?"

How strong was Lazaro's Dewgong? How long did we have until –

I felt us dropping.

"Honchkrow!"

Tyson's face was struck instantly with more panic.

The Dewgong fell to the floor and fainted. One by one all the pokemon that were out started dropping. Luxray collapsed on top of the Lapras, sparks spazzing out in all directions. The Empoleon plunged into the dirt face first with a solid, heavy thud. And we fell through the air.

How had his perish song worked so quickly?

I had to save us. I tossed out a pokeball and screamed.

"Gardevoir, psychic!"

My Gardevoir burst out and caught us immediately before we hit the ground, just centimetres above. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then it dropped us the rest of the way.

"Oomph - "

"Thanks Gardevoir."

"Voir."

It turned its back to me. My Gardevoir didn't like me very much.

"You're evil!" Archie shouted at Anastasia.

"Get out of here. Both of you." Anastasia spat.

Nurse Joy and the other winners stood inside of the Pokemon Centre and watched from the window in horror.

What had happened?

Officer Jenny arrived and began escorting Archie and my old opponent toward the police van.

"We know what you're doing, Anastasia! And you won't get away with it!"

Anastasia laughed. "Shut up and return your pokemon."

The two of them left. Tyson and I stood to the side and stayed quiet. We didn't know what to do. We looked at each other with blank expressions on our faces. I bit my lip and returned my Gardevoir. He returned his Honchkrow. No one said a word.

* * *

**-stbime**


	6. Chapter 6

As Officer Jenny's car zoomed off, Tyson and I were escorted into the pokemon centre.

Had we just lost two of the top ten?

Everyone was speechless. Anastasia and Lazaro remained outside and had what looked like an argument. The rest of the winners were already here. I saw the strange girl we had helped earlier sitting on one of the couches holding her Lopunny's hand. She saw me looking at her and quickly looked away. Kansas approached us.

"Are you two alright?" He looked right into my eyes when he spoke to me.

"Yeah, it wasn't a hard fall," I answered.

He pat me on the back. "Yeah, thanks to you. That was some quick thinking with your Gardevoir."

I blushed. Tyson butt in. "What _happened _though?"

The door swung open and Anastasia walked in, clearing her throat.

"We don't know," Kansas whispered, "we think the others must have found something out."

"As I am sure most of you have figured out by now," Anastasia began.

Lazaro walked in after her, his head hanging low.

"Two of you have been disqualified. Officially." She looked up, her cerulean blue eyes burning with crystal intensity. "The top ten has now been further trimmed into a final top eight."

We all looked around at each other. Silence. My former opponent was gone. And I never even got his name. That Archie guy, gone too. I never even knew him.

"You may all have a seat. Now that we have settled this little - discrepancy, we can begin explaining the rules of the next stage in our competition."

Nurse Joy stood behind the counter silently and watched us all take seats in the centre's lounge. Tyson and I sat side by side, and Kansas came and sat on my other side. I felt someone bump into my shoulder as I turned to sit down. Bea walked right past me and sat on Kansas's other side. I stared at her the entire time, heat rising in my cheeks. She didn't look at me once. She tucked a strand of her long black hair behind her ear and sat up, crossing her legs and leaning her head on Kansas's shoulder.

"First of all," Anastasia began again, "in regards to the individual interviews we were supposed to have tomorrow with the news reporters; they will be cancelled."

There were a few sighs of disappointment.

"We made this decision on the basis of a mutual agreement. We don't need opinionated, snoopy little rats getting into our business. Hence why we had to get rid of the other two of you."

She paused to look at us.

"_I_ will conduct the interview with the media reporters and announce to them who the winners are and what the competition's next stage will be. Now, Lazaro!"

Anastasia stepped back. Finally. Her voice was too clear. Too harsh. Too authoritative.

Lazaro looked up at us. I bit my lip.

"I believe rumors have been going around about our little discovery, have they?"

Lazaro's voice seemed softer - more gently informative. Anastasia held her hand out in front of her and examined her nails, seemingly completely uninterested in listening to Lazaro tell us about the competition.

"Well, as you'll have it, we have discovered a new island."

People started murmuring.

"It's located down in the South, and it's absolutely massive."

"Is it - "

Lazaro put his hand up for silence.

"No new pokemon have been discovered there and the Pokemon League has declared officially that it is too small to be a considered a new region, though in our eyes that's still up for debate."

So it was true.

He cleared his throat. "Our issue, however, is that it may not exactly be inhabitable. We don't know if we can set up cities or communities on the island just yet."

"What's wrong with it?"

It was the boy from earlier with the Skarmory. Anastasia glared at him. Lazaro simply answered the question.

"The pokemon there. They're crazy. They seem to have found a way to surpass level one hundred and become stronger than any other pokemon we have ever come across before. Most of them look like they were even _born _at level one hundred." He paused and sighed, remembering the baby Vulpix Anastasia had been battling when they were there. "We've set up a massive lab on the island's east coast, and Professor Oak and some of his associates from the other regions are there researching the pokemon to try and find a cause."

We listened intently.

"This, however, is not your concern. The entire lab area is off limits to all of you. We are sending you all there to be the first ones to explore the entire island."

More murmurs broke out.

"But with a twist."

Everyone quieted.

"This is still a competition and there is still more to be revealed."

Anastasia took over again.

"We have huge ideas for the future of this island. Despite internal protests about it not meeting the _qualifications_ to be a region on its own, it definitely meets the _challenges_ of being one. We plan to set up a sort of post-champion gym circuit there, but rather than calling them gyms, they will be referred to as Battle Centres, and they will not be type specific. Rather than the classic eight, also, there will only be five, and their owners, the Battle Centre leaders, will be this competition's top five winners."

My heart started racing. A gym circuit for trainers to challenge after the Elite Four? This was a lot of responsibility. I bit my lower lip and continued listening as Lazaro started to talk again.

"The rules of the next stage in the competition are simple. The first five people to find all of their pokemon win."

Find our pokemon?

"What?" someone called out.

"That's right," Anastasia continued. "The way it works is that we require complete access to each of your PC inboxes and all of your pokemon. We'll make our selection of who we feel your best teams of six are made of, and scatter the pokeballs across the entire island. The balls will be colour coded and you will not find out which of your pokemon we have selected until you find each of the pokeballs, one at a time. Once you have found one of your pokeballs, you may use the pokemon you have to help you retrieve the others, and survive. Everyone will be assigned a colour, and given a radar specially designed to detect your pokeballs. You will also get a mini unlimited pokemon healer."

Tyson raised his hand.

"How are you going to colour our pokeballs?"

"We have special cases that fit right around the pokeball, like a phone case goes onto the back of a cell phone. If you happen to find a pokeball that isn't your colour you leave it. It's not yours. The radar we are giving you will not tell you where to go it will simply pick up the presence of one of your pokeballs if it is nearby and show you its general direction."

Lazaro pulled out what looked like a big wrist watch from his back pocket.

"These, now, are mini pokemon healers. They work exactly like the machines at pokemon centres. They will heal any pokemon's injury or status problem any number of times. And they are solar powered so they should never run out of charge."

This was all so much to take in.

"It also comes with a built in speaker," he continued, "so that Anastasia and I will be able to communicate with you guys." He turned the watch over and opened a small compartment on its side. "This, now, is the 'give up' button."

Everyone went silent.

"If you no longer wish to participate in the competition, you simply press the button and we come for you."

"What about the rest of our pokemon though?"

"We will find them for you."

My mind drifted to my pokemon. Which of them would be chosen for me? What if they picked a pokemon I didn't work well with? I've been out of the play field for so long…

I mentally hit myself. No. I loved all of my pokemon and they all loved me.

"We are also supplying you with food pills. There are about fifty of them stacked in the back of your healers in a sealed compartment. They're scientifically designed and completely nutritious. One a day should suffice."

I held my stomach.

"You will all be assigned colours and given your gear tomorrow."

My mind was racing.

"As for your pokemon, we need to decide on that tonight."

I would be temporarily giving up all my pokemon to these people.

"How long will the competition last?"

Kansas was looking up at Anastasia fiercely, his hand subconsciously grabbing onto the pokeballs latched to his bet.

"It will last until you find all six of your pokemon."

He grunted at her.

"It could be weeks," Lazaro answered him properly. "Though hopefully it won't have to drag on for so long."

Everyone started getting rowdy. Anastasia clapped her hands for silence.

"All of you have a lot to do tonight. Your parents should watch the news tomorrow so they will know where you'll be. As for your pokemon, you need to return all of them to your PCs tonight and sign over your consent. This can be done online at the PC."

Everyone simply stared back at each other. Except the girl with the Lopunny. Her eyes were fixed on Anastasia. Her eyebrows were knitted together with a look of intense focus. Her attention didn't move for a second. How _weird. _

"Are you guys at least going to give us one pokemon to start off with?"

Anastasia shook her head.

"You begin on your own. Use it as an incentive to find your first pokeball quickly."

"What if we get attacked?"

Lazaro answered more calmly.

"A gym leader must not rely only on the strength of his pokemon, but on the strength within himself."

"Plus," Anastasia remarked, "you probably _are_ going to get attacked."

* * *

**-stbime**


	7. Chapter 7

We each took turns at the PC, depositing all of our Pokemon and signing over our consent. Nurse Joy checked us all in to our rooms at the Pokemon Centre for the night. I saw the girl we had helped earlier still at the PC, holding on to her Lopunny. She was hugging it tightly and saying goodbye.

"Excuse me." Nurse Joy called out, "we're missing a person. Someone still hasn't checked in. I only have seven people checked into the rooms."

I looked outside and saw a girl sitting down with her pokemon. She was probably the one who hadn't gotten her room yet. She was maybe having a hard time saying goodbye to her pokemon, I assumed.

"I'll run outside and get her!" I volunteered.

"Thank you, Jamie." Nurse Joy smiled at me.

I ran out. The girl was kneeling down, her butt on her heels, in the grass with her back to me. I stopped. She had dark, Indian skin, almost like caramel, and her hair was as black as the night sky and it flowed down her entire back.

"H-hey," I stuttered.

She turned around, her hair swaying gently with her movement.

"Hello," she replied.

"Marowack," her pokemon joined in.

"Th-they're asking for you inside. You have to check into a room."

She smiled. "Alright I'll be right there. Thank you!"

"Marowack!"

"I'm Jamie by the way."

She laughed. "I'm Hansani. And this is Marowack."

"Marowack."

I smiled. "Good luck during the rest of the competition then! I guess I'll see you around!" I turned around and walked back toward the centre.

"Hey, wait!"

I looked back. Hansani's face looked suddenly worried. And slightly scared.

"Don't-Don't you think it's a bit fishy that they want access to all of our pokemon? I mean, I-" She looked away nervously for a second. "Just think about it!"

I thought. It _was_ fishy. But this was the famous Anastasia and Lazaro. "Maybe you're just overthinking it," I told her. "They're public figures. They're _champions. _I think I trust them."

She looked at me. "Anastasia just seems so-"

"Evil?" I offered.

"Yeah!"

I didn't like Anastasia much. But that was her personality. She was just authoritative I guessed.

"And what about those two who got kicked out?"

I bit my lip. I couldn't wrap my head around that either. "Maybe they were cheating?"

Hansani sighed. "I don't know."

"I think it'll be fine," I said.

She nodded. I turned around again and headed back to the centre. All of these thoughts plagued my mind. I didn't know what to think anymore. I stepped into the centre in time to hear someone yelling, the sudden distraction tearing me from my thoughts.

"You should have been more aware of your surroundings!"

I stopped in my tracks. I saw the guy with the Skarmory who had knocked over the strange girl. He was shouting at her. I should learn their names soon, I thought.

"Leave me alone!" she yelled back.

Tyson ran up and grabbed her arm.

"All I'm saying is that you should have been watching. You cannot be oblivious to things going on around you, that's why you got hit!"

"Shut up!" Tyson shouted. "You're being an asshole. Maybe _you _should watch where your pokemon lift off next time!"

He walked away with the girl.

_Some people are just jerks like that_, I thought. _I hope he loses. _

I went to my room without talking to anybody else and went to sleep.

Morning came before I knew it. Tiny shafts of golden light shone through the small gaps of my blinds.

_Today is the day,_ I thought to myself.

"EVERYBODY UP!"

Anastasia's voice blasted through the hallways.

"The news reporters are here!"

I got up and dressed and met up with everyone else in the Pokemon Centre's lobby.

"Outside is packed," Tyson told me.

I looked through the glass walls at the massive drones of people crowded outside the centre.

"Now, nobody say anything," Anastasia instructed us, "Lazaro and I will do the talking. You just bow when you hear your name."

We all nodded. Anastasia led us out, with Lazaro at her side. There was a small stage set up at the edge of the field, with microphones and reporters crowded around at its centre. We climbed up and Anastasia took the mic. The crowd began to quiet down.

"I understand everyone is eager to find out what is going on. As most of you know, we _have_ discovered an island further south, and a lot of exploration is required."

She handed Lazaro the mic.

"Over two hundred trainers competed in our tournament, and eight have come out victorious."

The reporters started shouting questions.

"I thought there were supposed to be ten!"

"I heard someone got injured and dropped out!"

"Did the last match ever get finished after the explosion?"

"Why were the two trainers disqualified?"

I saw Anastasia rubbing her temples. I assumed this was why she hated the media. She stepped back and let Lazaro handle it.

"Due to unfortunate circumstances, one of our finalists and his pokemon were injured on their own accord and rushed to the emergency room. The disruption _did _interrupt the tournament's final battle and the decision was made to promote the last two competitors into the top ten in order to replace the injured former finalist. As of last night, however, two more of the top ten were officially disqualified for reasons that will not be made public, transforming our group of finalists from being the top ten, to the top eight."

Uproars began.

"Why can't you tell us?"

"How will this affect the rest of the competition?"

"Where are the two trainers?"

"ENOUGH!" Anastasia shouted into the mic.

The crowd went silent. Lazaro continued.

"The competition will not be affected by this. We will simply have less losers, as no matter what, we need five winners. Information on those who were disqualified will not be disclosed."

The reporters remained silent. I myself couldn't stop wondering about that either. Why _were_ they disqualified? Why were they fighting in the first place? Kansas said the two guys may have found something out. But what? Were Anastasia and Lazaro hiding something?

"The next part of the competition will take place on the island," Lazaro continued. "It will be difficult and dangerous, hence the reason for our tournament. We wanted only the best, and here they are!"

As he spoke, several men came onto the stage and gave out boxes to each of us. Some of the reporters started clapping. Others shoved their microphones and shouted loads of questions at us.

"Jamie!" Lazaro announced my name to the crowd.

My heart stopped. They called _my_ name first? I froze. I felt an elbow nudge me in my stomach.

"Bow!" Kansas whispered to me.

I bowed, my legs trembling a bit. They applauded. I had never been applauded before. A man handed me a box. On the top it read "Green Team."

"Kansas!"

Kansas bowed and was given his box. His applause was slightly louder. I bet it was because people actually got to see him win his battle.

"Bea!"

I looked over at her. She was wearing a very short skirt and had ribbons in her hair. She looked beautiful. She placed one leg behind the other, lifted up the corners of her skirt and curtsied.

"Lydia!"

I looked to see who Lydia was. No one moved.

I screwed my eyebrows and scanned the eight of us. After a couple of seconds, Lazaro pointed to the strange girl. Her face again seemed kind of expressionless, and she didn't really react when her name was called. When she saw Lazaro was pointing at her, she shook her head like she was startled and bowed quickly. Her cheeks burned red. What was up with that?

"Sol!"

The asshole bowed. So his name was Sol. I'd remember that for when we were out on the island. He was a jerk to Lydia.

"Tyson!"

His applause was loudest. Apparently he was loved. Good thing he was my friend.

"Hansani!"

The Indian girl with the long hair. When she bowed, all of it fell to the side as she moved her head. Her skin shone golden in the sun. It matched the brown, earthy-coloured feathers she had put in her hair.

"And Vlad!"

The boy grinned and bowed. I had never really interacted with him at all. I wondered if he was good. His skin was pale and his hair was bleach blonde. Almost like Anastasia's.

The men finished walking across the stage and handing everyone their boxes.

"These eight pokemon trainers will be taken to the island in a matter of hours. They will each be escorted in their own helicopter and will be dropped off at different points on the island, miles away from each other. Their pokeballs are being scattered as we speak across the entire island. The way the competition goes is that the first five trainers to get all six of their pokeballs back win. Details of the prize will be revealed to the public at a later date."

I figured they didn't want to explain about the Battle Centres just yet.

"Each trainer was given a pocket radar to help them locate nearby pokeballs, and a healing machine to restore their pokemon's health. Their pokeballs have been colour coded according to their team colour so they can tell their pokeballs apart from each other's and not pick up another trainer's pokeball. Pokeballs that do not belong to them will not be show up on their radar."

The media reporters went _wild _with excitement_._

"As soon as we get word that pokeballs have been released and scattered, we will be on our way."

I had never felt more nervous in my entire life.

-X-X-X-X-X-

_Meanwhile…_

"_Copter One, ready. Out"_

_Static. _

"_Copter Two, ready. Out"_

_Static. _

"_Copter Three, ready. Over and out."_

_Static._

"_Initiate release!"_

_Forty eight coloured pokeballs fell through the sky as the three helicopters released them. A harsh gust of wind blew and dispersed them as they scattered further and further apart from each other. They approached the massive island, free falling, each landing in different places: trees, rocks, dirt, vines, caves, overgrowths._

"_Spearow!"_

_One of the green balls landed directly on a pokemon's head. Enraged, a massive white, glowing beam formed at its beak. _

"_Spea- ROW!"_

_The hyper beam blasted the green pokeball up into the air, cracking the case and slamming it into the cliffs above. The ball landed on the ground above the cliffs with a crash and blinding flash of light, rolling over to reveal its front burst completely wide open. The glow faded and the pokemon that had been inside looked around, confused. _

"_Cleh?"_

* * *

**-stbime**


	8. Chapter 8

Reporters were shouting with questions. This whole thing was bigger than I thought. The eight of us were pushed off the stage by Anastasia and led back to wait outside the Centre to be picked up. Before we could get inside, I felt massive gusts of wind from above followed by the loud roaring of a propeller. Eight propellers. Eight massive helicopters approached and landed in the field outside the Pokemon Centre right where the big battle took place yesterday between the two former finalists and Anastasia. I let my mind drift over to them for a second. What could they have found out that was so bad? Was the competition rigged or something?

"Excuse me, sir, are you ready?"

A guy from inside the helicopter had come out to get me. I looked around and saw the others boarding their helicopters. Was it time already? I bit my lip.

"See you over there, Jamie!" Tyson called out to me.

"Bye!"

"Good luck!" Kansas saluted me.

I waved back to him.

I heard a small shriek and looked over to see where it came from. As Bea stepped up to climb her ladder the wind from the propeller blew her skirt up. I chuckled and blushed.

"Sir?"

I looked at the guy in the helicopter waiting on me.

"I'm coming!"

I walked over.

"I'm Melo," he said.

"Jamie."

I shook his hand and boarded the helicopter as it lifted slowly from the ground. The others followed, each of the trainers looking out of their helicopter at the others. I looked down and saw Anastasia standing next to Lazaro. They were looking up at us watching while Anastasia tried desperately to keep her short, blonde hair from blowing all over the place. From where I was, the Pokemon Centre seemed to get smaller and smaller. Everything did. We were up.

"You nervous?"

I looked back and saw the Melo smiling at me. I swallowed. "Yeah, kind of. I haven't done this for a while."

He laughed. "Done what?"

I shrugged. "_This. _This whole pokemon trainer thing."

He turned to the front and pressed a bunch of the buttons on the dashboard. "Well, don't be nervous. Okay? You're a good trainer."

I was shocked. "You saw me battle?"

He nodded. "You're one of my favourites. And you're colour's green, right?"

I thought of the box they handed me when I was on stage and nodded. "Yup. Green team."

"And green's my favourite colour, too."

We smiled at each other.

"Have you ever been on the island before?" I asked him.

"No, I haven't. Well, I've _landed_ on it, anyway. I don't think my pokemon'd be tough enough to survive. I heard the ones there're just psychotic. They'd probably take down all of mine in one hit."

My stomach churned.

"It's an absolutely beautiful island though. You'll like it."

Somehow I doubted the island's scenery would be the most prominent thing on my mind.

"So how long have you been out?"

I screwed my eyebrows a bit. "Out of what?"

"Well, you said you hadn't done this in a while."

I shook my head. " Oh. Yeah, I haven't trained or anything in maybe three years or so."

"Three years? That's awfully long you know. I'm surprised you made it! You must've been somthin' back then, eh?"

I closed my eyes. "Yeah, something…"

He didn't question me any further. "How long is the flight?" I asked.

He answered without hesitation. "Maybe three hours or so. We're goin' pretty fast."

I sighed and sat down, staring outside the window and watching as random scenes flashed by.

"How do you know where on the island you have to drop me off?"

He looked at me. "Each helicopter was given specific coordinates to drop off its trainer. I went and checked out the spot they gave you while I was there earlier. You got lucky, boy. It's one of the better spots."

A sigh of relief.

"It's all the way down, right near the South coast."

Curiosity struck.

"Why were you there earlier?"

He laughed. "I was one of the 'copters to drop the pokeballs."

_Wait._

"The pokeballs were _dropped?_"

He laughed again. "Did you think we'd place them all individually?"

I bit my lip.

"Won't they open when they land?"

"Nope. The coloured cases prevent that. Unless the case cracks or something, they won't open. And no way those cases are gonna crack from one little thousand foot drop!"

I put my hand on my forehead and thought. I trusted him about the pokeball thing. And I guess I was lucky not to start off in too dangerous a spot or anything. But I had to come up with a strategy. I had to get my bearing as soon as I landed. I needed to know which way was North. If I was being dropped off on the South side of the island, my best bet would be to go North to cover as much ground as possible.

I zoned out, lost in thought. I started planning the pokemon I would hope for that would prove to be most helpful. I definitely wanted a flying pokemon, to travel easier. And a water pokemon, to swim.

The three hours crept by slowly.

"Right up ahead! Look at that! Ain't it just magnificent?"

I snapped my head and ran to look out the window. I pressed my face to the glass, my hands on either of my face pressing just as hard.

Massive, rocky mountains peaked at the centre of the island. Rolling green hills intertwined with rivers and valleys, massive waterfalls flooding the edges of giant cliffs, some daringly overlooking the island's edge. Thick jungles and caves shrouded around bulging boulders and sand lined the crystal coasts.

"Damn."

Melo laughed at me. "It's beautiful, no? Can't believe it took anyone so long to come and find it. Guess they just weren't lookin' in all the right places, eh?"

I stared at the island's terrain as we travelled over it when a massive silver dome caught my eye.

"That's the lab," Melo told me.

"It's enormous!"

The colossal silver building stood menacingly on the top of a giant stone hill, its surroundings completely barred of by huge jagged rock formations and eroded volcanic residue. Part of it overlooked the water's edge with its thick steel support beams lining the rocky cliff.

My eyes widened. "Why does it have to be so big?"

Melo scratched his head. "You see, they're tryin' to study the pokemon here, but no one's really been able to capture 'em in pokeballs yet. They're too strong."

Goosebumps ran up my arm.

"So they need all that space to keep the pokemon then?"

Melo nodded. "They need all the space they can get. Each professor is there studying what they do best. Professor Elm came from Johto. He's studying their breeding patterns. Birch came from Hoenn. He's got the bulk of the work. His specialty's pokemon habitats. They think the pokemon's super strength has something to do with their habitat on the island."

I nodded and kept listening.

"Then Professor Rowan from Sinnoh is there studying the pokemon's evolution. He seems to think that that may have something to do with the cause of their power. But even the un-evolved pokemon here are crazy."

I shuddered. "And what about Professor Oak?"

Melo shook his head and laughed. "How could I forget? He's in charge of this whole research project. He brought all his equipment from the Kanto to study the pokemon's behavior and interaction with humans. That's what he's always done, no?"

I nodded.

"Anastasia and Lazaro are gonna have some huge accomplishment under their belts for discovering this little beauty here."

I hadn't even thought about that. "Have they named the island yet though?" I couldn't take my eyes off the giant laboratory. "They had to have thought of a name for it by now."

Melo looked down and scratched his head again with his free hand.

"You see, son, we're not exactly supposed to tell you its name. It isn't official or nothin' yet, but they think they know what they'll name it."

My shoulders drooped.

"But what's the point of the secrecy?"

He shrugged. "I guess they don't want things spreading and then the wrong name happens to stick."

"You know it though?"

He nodded proudly. "Yup."

"Then just tell me!"

"It's only a prototype name. It takes a lot of copyright and legal work before you can name something as important as an island."

I sighed. I looked out the window and the island got closer and closer. It really was just massive. It would take _days _to cover much less find six tiny green pokeballs there.

"Almost here."

I felt my gut sink.

What was so special about the name anyway?

Melo was watching me. He could tell I was still thinking about the name. He chuckled. I felt the helicopter descending. And fast. I got that funny feeling in my bladder like when a plane lands. The helicopter doors opened. We were merely centimetres from the ground. The propeller was loud and the grass around us blew in all directions from the heavy wind.

"You're on your own as soon as you get off the helicopter, Jamie."

I swallowed.

"I know you'll do great. I've been watching you from the beginning. You can do it."

I forced a smile.

"Thanks, Melo."

I hopped off the helicopter and nearly fell over from the wind.

He smiled.

"Welcome," he called out with a wink, "to Mako Island."

My stomach fluttered. I looked up and watched the helicopter float higher and higher into the air, the powerful wind blowing my short dark hair all over the place. I waved at Melo.

So, Mako Island, huh? I wonder why he decided to tell me its name after all. I thought of the mako shark: a swift, merciless killer. I shuddered.

A muffled voice came in through the speaker on my wrist. "Come in, contestants in the top eight, come in." It was Lazaro. I listened. "I've received word that everyone has landed. The final stage has officially begun. You may start your journeys deeper into the island in search of your pokeballs. Use your radars as guides, and your healers as lifesavers. Remember all the healers need is sunlight. You may give up at any time by pressing the button that says 'give up.' Oh, and just a special note, the radars are made to work at ground level, so flying high with your pokemon may result in loss of signal. Do so at your own risk. Good luck."

And with a soft beep, it was silent again.

_This is it, _I thought_. This thing has actually started. _

Looking around me I realized I was on the outskirts of a forest. And to go north meant to go right through it. It felt good to be out in the open again.

I looked up to the sky. I had a few more hours till sunset. Who knew what pokemon would come out at night? I had to find my first pokeball before nightfall or I was screwed. I checked my radar. Nothing. I had to start moving and avoid any wild pokemon at all costs, even though going straight through the forest might not be the best way to do that.

I looked around me. I had no choice.

I entered the dense foliage. Massive green trees towered over me, blocking most of the sun. The tall, thick tree trunks were laden with vines and other parasitic plants growing along them. I trudged through, checking my radar every ten seconds to see if it picked up anything. It didn't. Maybe it would get better signal if I were a little higher up. But just a little. I'd have to climb a tree. I looked for one that would be easy, grabbed onto a branch that was as high as I could reach, and mounted it. I continued up. One branch higher. Up. One more. _Snap._

"Pidgey!"

"Pidgey!"

About a dozen Pidgey flew up from the tree as I grabbed on to another branch for support. Thank goodness they were Pidgey, I thought. Any other pokemon would probably have come back and attacked me.

The Pidgey made U-turns and headed straight towards me. _Shit. _How bad could a peck from a Pidgey be?

One Pidgey tucked its wings in and sped up, getting ahead of the others. The tip of its beak glowed as it sliced through the air. I ducked. _Crack. _

I looked to the side. One of the tree's thickest branches was sent crashing to the ground. A _Pidgey _did _that?_ My heart dropped.

"Pidgey!"

It turned back around. I was dead. The others followed suit and soon all of their beaks were glowing. They shot at me like arrows. Thankfully their power and speed compromised their accuracy. As each one darted past me, more and more branches were sliced off, including, finally, the one I was holding on to. I fell. And my Gardevoir wasn't there to catch me this time. I landed on a massive pile of leaves and vines, completely grateful that something was there to cushion my fall. I scrambled to my feet. I could hear the flapping of Pidgey wings from above. Their feathers batted against their bodies and the leaves of the trees. I jerked forward to begin running and ended up tripping over my feet. Something squeezed tighter around my leg.

"Ssss-eviper!"

Apparently the vines I landed on weren't vines. The purple and black snake glared at me with the most evil eyes I had ever seen. Its tongue hissed and flicked. Venom dripped from its fangs. I had _never_ seen a pokemon drip and ooze excess poison like that from its teeth of all places.

"Viper!"

It struck, lurching its head forward at lightning speed, aiming for my leg. I pulled away just in time and watched as its teeth sunk into the earth below. It was stuck. The Seviper pulled and struggled to loosen its head, but to no avail. I yanked my foot back and got up and _ran._ I didn't know where I was going or which I direction I was headed, but I didn't stop. I could hear the Pidgey just overhead, only barely over the pounding of my heart, which had found itself halfway up my throat.

I hopped over logs and rocks, ducking under low branches and winding myself through vines and overhanging roots. This was not good. My legs were already aching and heart beating way too fast. My breaths grew ragged but I didn't know if I could stop.

_Beep_!

I stopped.

_What in the world was that? _Pokemon didn't beep. My radar was blinking. I opened it and checked. On the screen, a tiny green circle was lit up. A pokeball! I turned to go in that direction when a massive gust of wind blew me over.

"Pidgeotto!"

A small flock of Pidgeotto were coming from the same direction my pokeball was in. No way could I head _towards _them. I cursed my luck. I'd have to find that pokeball later. Even though it would probably save my life right about now.

I got up and took off away from the Pidgeotto, running as fast as my legs would allow.

"Hsss!"

I looked back. The Seviper had caught up. Adrenaline coursed through my veins.

"Pidgi-OTO!"

The wind picked up. I felt the air wisp around my feet. The Pidgeotto were using a flying attack. Huge gusts of wind shot up from behind me lifting me instantly off of the ground. It blew further and further in the direction I was running. And further and further away from my pokeball, too. I had to get back to the ground and find somewhere to hide until they left.

I grabbed on to a tree branch and held on to it for dear life. The wind died down. I lowered myself to the floor along with it and took off again, searching for somewhere to hide. I looked ahead, and just a little further away was a massive tree, its trunk thicker than any I had seen before. And there was a little hollow right at the bottom of it. I could go in there.

I didn't even look back. I ran to it. I was there in less than a minute, making my way through vines and crawling through the entrance. I dropped to my knees once I was inside the trunk and started breathing heavily through my mouth. I could not catch my breath. I felt like curling up and dying. In all my years of being a pokemon trainer I had never been attacked so viciously like that without any of my pokemon on me. And especially not by _Pidgey_! I checked my radar. The signal was gone.

"Vul."

I froze.

_Shit. _

I turned my head slowly to the side.

"Pix."

I was dead. For sure. I was about to run back out of the little tree cave when I remembered the Seviper and Pidgeotto. Should I get poisoned, mauled, or burned to death? I weighed my options. Then I noticed something. The Vulpix was injured. Its leg was torn and a massive scar ran right across its eye. Dried liquid stained the fur around its injury, and it looked like it could barely move. The cut was deep, too. Like it was intentional. Something had tried to hurt it, and whatever it was had aimed directly for its face like that. It was not a battle wound and it was not an accident. I could tell.

Heat emanated from the small fire pokemon. Its light brown tails curled tightly around its body. My heart broke.

"Vulpix."

It put its front paw out, as if threatening me. I doubted whether or not it could even stand up. I looked down at my pokemon healer. Would it work on wild pokemon? Was this even allowed? I pointed the giant thing on my wrist towards the Vulpix.

"Vulll," it growled.

Tiny fires began to burn at the corners of its mouth. I lifted my hands in the air.

"I'm not here to hurt you. I promise."

The Vulpix lowered its head, whether intentionally or due to a lack of strength to hold it up, I didn't know.

"This should heal you."

I pointed the watch to the Vulpix and pressed the "Heal" button. There was a tiny flash and the Vulpix glowed. The gashes on its leg disappeared and where its fur was missing more grew back. The scar across its eye closed up and healed, though it left its mark present. It could still be seen.

Within a matter of seconds the Vulpix was up and in perfect condition, stretching its legs. The small pokemon was almost – adorable. I felt this warm sensation come over me. I was glad I helped the injured pokemon. Just watching it suffer the way it was made me want to get revenge against the thing that hurt it so bad.

Then reality hit me. This was still a wild pokemon. And it was more than able to attack me now that I healed it. What the hell had I been thinking?

I scrambled to the entrance of the tiny cave when I heard a massive clap of thunder that stopped me in my tracks. Was that a pokemon or a thunderstorm? Torrents of rain gushed from the sky and lightning flashed. That definitely answered my question. Not even a second later more thunder boomed. I couldn't go out in this weather. I didn't have a choice though. I wouldn't be able to stay in here with a wild pokemon. I looked back at the Vulpix. It was walking towards me, eyes fierce. Its tails stood up in the air and bobbed with every step it took. I could feel the heat getting stronger and stronger the closer it got me. I braced myself for the attack, my legs quivering. It dipped its head low, opened its mouth, and licked me. I squeezed my eyes shut in preparation for the expected pain.

The Vulpix turned around and walked back. I opened my eyes slowly. My cheeks and the rest of my face were flushed. Relief flooded my system. Had that just happened? It - licked me? I crawled back deeper into the cave, on the opposite end as the Vulpix, and sat hugging my knees tightly against my chest. I rested my head against my knees and sighed. I could stay here for now. At least I was dry.

I listened to the rain pouring outside. The weather was always the worst when you needed it to be good. How was I supposed to find my first pokemon today if it was raining like this? At this rate, I'd probably be stuck here until sunset. My gut sank. My mind flashed back to the pokeball my radar had picked up while I was running. I had to go back for it.

More thunder clapped. I watched as pools of water began to flood outside. The splashing of the rain echoed in the cave, filling our ears with the sound of wet misery. Misery that felt strangely calming after a while. Misery that chilled the air I began to drift slowly to sleep in.

The temperature lowered and I shivered. The sound of my teeth clattering joined the trickling drips of cold water. Another flash of lightning lit up the cave. My eyes drooped, closing slowly.

When I awoke it was nightfall. I shot up and looked around. I could not believe I had fallen asleep. The Vulpix was gone and the rain had stopped. I cursed myself. I sat back down and hugged my knees tighter. I wanted to throw up. My first night here and I had no pokemon. I couldn't walk out into the open like this at night. I sighed into my legs.

_At least I survived,_ I thought. _For now._

* * *

**-stbime**


	9. Chapter 9

I got up as soon as the first ray of morning sunlight hit the entrance of my small cave. A cool mist surrounded the forest outside. I was going to be strong today. I was going to find one of my pokemon. It would all be downhill from there. Once I had one of my pokemon, I'd be able to defend myself from anything. I hoped.

I reached for the latch underneath my healer, careful not to touch the give-up button as I opened it and let a food pill fall into the palm of my hand. I popped it in to my mouth and swallowed it dry. Within moments I felt instantly full.

I poked my head outside the entrance and looked both ways. Nothing. I got out and headed in the direction I had gotten the signal from for that split second on my radar.

The place was dim and wet form yesterday's rain. The sun wasn't completely up yet and dew drops hung from the tips of the leaves. I tried to be as quiet as possible and I checked my radar every two seconds for a signal. How close did I have to be for it to pick up a pokeball nearby? And once it did pick up the signal, how long would it take me to find it? How far would I have to go? Questions raced through my mind as I continued to walk.

_Beep! _

My radar! I nearly fell over in excitement. I threw my hand in the air and jumped. _Ouch. _My hand hit the branch right above me. I watched as it shook and three big, brown striped pebbles fell out. Pebbles in a tree?

"Sunkern!"

_Oh. _Sunkern in a tree. I was almost a little grateful. I could outrun Sunkern.

"Sunflora!"

My heart stopped. I didn't know if I could outrun those.

The three Sunkern hopped up and down, probably angry. Sunflora started emerging from the plants around me. They didn't even look menacing. They were wobbly, walking flowers.

"Flora!"

A brown vine lashed out from the ground and shot straight towards me. Again, its speed and power compromised its accuracy. I dove to the floor to get out the way. The vine ended up whipping a massive root that was popping out from the ground right behind of me and slicing it in half. I stared at the thick chunk of wood now sticking out of the earth. I imagined if that had been me. I shuddered and bit my lip. What move was that anyway? Ingrain? Used offensively?

_Run, _my mind told me. I got to my feet and headed straight in the direction of my pokeball. Why were the pokemon here so psychotically strong?

"Sun-FLORA!"

An enormous beam of light blasted right above me. I threw myself to the ground and ducked, looking back to see where they were. The beam had burned right through huge chunks of branches before disappearing in the distance. I struggled to my feet, standing in its wake and dreading what was to come. When I looked back, I saw petals tearing themselves from the Sunflora's faces and floating in the air. Petal dance. The petals blasted at me full force, slicing through the forest's trees. I ran. And it was way too early in the morning to be running for my life.

"No!"

Something tugged on my stomach and I fell to the floor face first. Sharp, glowing petals zoomed past above my head. Whatever it was that had grabbed me started wrapping itself tighter around my abdomen. I looked down. It was one of their vines. I pulled and tugged to try and loosen it. It would not budge.

"Ah-"

I struggled. It tightened. All the air was squeezed out of my lungs. I could feel my face reddening. This was it, I thought. Just as my vision began blurring I saw one of the Sunflora charging another solar beam. I was gone for.

"Vul – PIX!"

Blasts of burning flames scorched past my face and surrounded the flower pokemon. I felt the grip slowly loosen around me and heard the solar beam being released in the direction of the flames and blasting up into the air, hitting nothing.

Did I just get, saved?

The tiny rust-coloured fox charged at the Sunflora and leapt, slamming its body into them and releasing tiny wisps of fire. Petals began floating in the air again. They whirred overhead and fired down directly onto the Vulpix. Vulpix took it and fired back. I heard a crash and saw as one of the Sunflora toppled over and fell, probably confused from the petal dance.

Vines lashed out at Vulpix and it fell. It struggled to its feet and opened its mouth, shooting more fire at the wobbling flowers. We needed a better way to spread it to all of them. Vulpix suddenly changed course and leapt into the air again, firing upwards at one of the larger branches that hung low. It fell and crashed right in front of the Sunflora, and caught instantly on fire.

Flames licked and lashed out at the grass pokemon who screamed and retreated faster than I would have expected. I watched them leave and waited for the fire to die down.

When I was sure the coast was clear, I ran to see if the Vulpix was okay. It stood with its legs apart and its head down, breathing heavily. It just took down some fully evolved grass pokemon all on its own. I turned on my healer once more and aimed it for the Vulpix. It looked up at me but did not move. I pressed the button and it glowed again. Within seconds the Vulpix was fine. This thing was amazing.

I stooped so I was eye level with the Vulpix. I had loads of respect for this little guy now.

"Thank you," I said, still out of breath.

What happened next surprised me. It walked up to me and brushed the side of its body against my knee.

"Vul."

I smiled. It looked up at me with two of the most beautiful fiery eyes I had ever seen. Its scar was still visible. A sign of its strength, I thought.

"You know," I started, "I could use some help until I find all my pokemon again."

The Vulpix cocked its head to the side and stared at me.

"Vul?"

I scratched my head. Then it occurred to me. This island was uninhabited. The pokemon here had never seen humans. And they more than likely couldn't understand us, either. I sighed.

"You," I pointed to the Vulpix, "can come with me," I pointed to myself, "to protect me," I shielded my face, "and I will keep you healthy," I pointed to my healer.

"Vul!"

The Vulpix nodded. I pet it softly on the head. It closed its eyes and purred. Its fur was softer than velvet. And it was warm.

I looked up to the sky. The sun was out now and I could hear other pokemon waking up. I hoped none of them would bother us. And I had to make sure that I wouldn't bother any of them either.

I looked down at the Vulpix that was by my side. It looked back up at me. A warm feeling came over me. I attributed it to the fact that Vulpix were just normally at a higher temperature than the rest of us.

* * *

**-stbime**


	10. Chapter 10

The late morning sun burned. Vulpix seemed to be basking in it. The further along we walked, the thinner the trees seemed to get. We had to be approaching the forest's end.

By now, my short, dark hair was matted to my forehead with sweat. I wiped it with one of my hands and started wondering about the other members of the top eight. Had any of them found any of their pokemon yet? Was I behind? The thoughts made my stomach start to hurt. I checked my radar again. We were getting closer to the ball. _Almost there, _I thought.

"Vulpix."

I looked down at Vulpix. It didn't look back up. Must be talking to itself, I figured. We walked on.

I could see shafts of light in the distance. A clearing! We made it through the forest!

"Vulpix, look!"

We looked up and ran, bursting through the last of the bushes and the vines. A cool breeze hit us. It was nice to be out in the open again.

_Beep beep beep._

My heart raced. The radar. Did that mean my pokeball was even closer? I grabbed the radar and checked the screen. It showed the pokeball was right in front of me. I looked right in front of me. Rocks. I looked up. More rocks. I looked up even further. Cliffs. My heart sank. My pokeball was up _there?_

Great. I couldn't climb those! I had to find a way to walk around. I'd have to take the long way.

"Ice beam go!"

I heard a girl shout from the top of the cliff some distance away.

"Glaceon!"

There was a white flash and an ice structure started forming at the top of the cliff. I saw the blue ice pokemon lean over the edge and continue blasting the blocks of the frozen liquid, adding to the structure. I squinted my eyes. What was it making? It had to be one of the other trainers. The ice stopped.

I saw her walk to the edge of the cliff and look down at the ice. It was Bea. The heat rose in my cheeks.

"Good," she exclaimed.

She stepped down. They were stairs!

"Continue."

The Glaceon nodded, lifted its head up, and fired its ice beam down the edge to continue forming its icy staircase. As each step was formed Bea walked down after her pokemon. That was smart of her, utilizing the pokemon she'd been given to her advantage by altering the terrain. I was impressed. I watched.

She was half way down the cliff. That ice had to be slippery. She had reached a stone ledge and stepped off of the ice, looking in the distance down the cliff. Then I heard it too. Rumbles. And I saw them. A bunch of Graveler were heading towards Bea, climbing at their level along the rocks.

I wondered what she would do. It wasn't safe if she had to stay on that ledge to let her Glaceon fight them, but it wasn't like she could ignore them either.

The Glaceon stopped its ice beam, crouched low and growled. At least she _had_ a pokemon, I thought.

She held out her hand to tell Glaceon to relax then grabbed something from her belt. "Butterfree, go!"

She threw a pink-coated pokeball into the air. She had _two_ pokemon? I began to doubt myself and everything I was doing.

When I saw the massive Graveler approaching her tiny hovering butterfly, I then began doubting what _she _was doing. She probably would have been better off letting Glaceon fight them.

The Graveler attacked. They flung huge rocks into the air, aiming directly for Bea.

"Butterfree psychic!"

Butterfree's eyes glowed as it caught the rocks in midair, halting their projectile motion and dropping them straight to the ground below. She had just used psychic as a defensive move against an attack that would have killed her. I had to learn to stop doubting trainers in the top eight. They were probably just as crazy as some of the wild pokemon here.

"Glaceon, continue the stairs. Butterfree, sleep powder!"

They nodded. Glaceon used ice beam and started freezing the cliff again. I wondered how she intended for the sleep powder to hit all of those Graveler – and on the side of a cliff, too, to make matters worse.

The Butterfree shook and formed massive clouds of sparkling blue powder.

"Whirlwind, spread it!"

"Free!"

The Butterfree flapped its wings, picking up more air than I thought would ever be possible with wings like that. The gusts blew the thick powder over all the Graveler and I watched as one by one they all fell asleep.

"Dream eater!"

Butterfee's eyes glowed greedily.

Bea was nearly at the bottom of the cliff. I wanted to talk to her so I headed over.

Her Butterfree finished off the giant rock pokemon like they were nothing and flew over. I started feeling intimidated.

"Woah!"

I looked up and saw Bea slip on the ice. Her skirt flew up and she tumbled down the rest of the cliff.

"Butterfree catch me!"

No way the Butterfree would make it on time. I ran to the bottom and caught her just as she landed, toppling to the floor with her in the process.

"Agh!"

I was holding her in my arms and I could feel myself blushing. She looked at me. Her Glaceon hopped down from where it was and the Butterfree came over. Vulpix was behind me. Bea got up quickly.

"Th-thank you," she said.

I blushed more and looked away. "That was pretty impressive up there," I told her.

She looked down. "You saw all that?"

I nodded. "The whole thing."

She looked over to Vulpix. "One of your strongest pokemon is a _Vulpix_?"

Her tone had a hint of malice. I was caught off guard. I looked back at the Vulpix that had been following me.

"Actually it's not -"

When I looked at Bea I saw she wasn't even paying attention. I stopped. I didn't owe her an explanation anyway, and she didn't seem to care.

"Your pokeballs are green, right?"

_Huh_? I knitted my eyebrows together and nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Well you sure are in for a surprise when you get up there." she said. "I suggest you just take the stairs." She pointed to them. "And don't slip."

My heart leapt. She had probably seen my pokeball!

"Nice eyes by the way."

I nearly stumbled forward. "What?"

"Your eyes," she looked up at me, "they're unique."

I bit my lip. No one had ever told me that.

"Not many people with hair as dark as yours have deep blue-green eyes like that. They're pretty special."

I could have fainted.

"Special for a boy, anyway."

She tucked a strand of her long hair behind her ear. I just stood there dumbfounded. I wasn't very good at talking in situations like this.

"You're not very good at talking," she smirked.

"Vulpix!"

"And I still can't believe you've got a Vulpix."

"It's not-"

"I gotta go." She cut me off. "And so should you. Those stairs won't last forever."

I watched the ice glistening in the sun. She turned to head into the forest. I hoped the Sunflora ate her.

As I looked at the icy staircase that ran up the entire cliff I realized it was now or never. I had to get to at least one of my pokemon, and desperately too.

"Let's go Vulpix."

"Vul!"

I climbed up to the bottom of the stairs and stood up. They weren't as slippery as I had imagined they would be. Still, I had to be extremely careful. Vulpix followed. The second its paws touched the ice it melted a little.

"Maybe you should climb up the rocks instead of on the ice." I pointed to the rocks.

If any pokemon could do it, a Vulpix could. They had six tails. That was six times the balance of any other pokemon.

Vulpix hopped off the ice and began leaping up the cliff from stone to stone. It wasn't _too_ steep.

"Look at you go!"

I continued climbing the stairs.

"Vulpix!"

The higher I reached, the wetter the stairs got. They were melting. I had to be quick, but I didn't want to slip. Also, the top stairs were made first, so they were out longer and were more melted than the rest. I slipped a bit and caught myself on one of the rocks that was sticking out. This really wasn't working in my favour.

I was three quarters of the way up. I could do this. I bit my lip and forced myself carefully onward. I was almost there.

"Pix!"

I looked up. Vulpix had made it. It looked over the edge at me.

"I'm coming, I'm com- ah!"

I felt the ice give way beneath me. My foot slipped and I slid. I grabbed onto one of the rocks and caught myself but my grip wasn't strong. My legs dangled beneath me.

"VUL!"

Vulpix couldn't pull me up. The golden-orange fox stared down at me, wide eyed. My life flashed before my eyes. I felt my fingers slipping. This was it.

My grip loosened and I fell back. My heart hitched in my throat. I was dead.

Something suddenly grabbed me and I felt myself stop falling. Four tiny limbs had latched onto my shirt and a pair of powdery wings flapped ferociously to keep me from dropping. I felt us dip, then overcome the momentum of the fall and struggle upwards.

It was Bea's Butterfree. I never in my life thought I'd see a Butterfree carry a human. I suddenly became scared of the rest of her pokemon.

My breaths were still ragged when we reached the top of the cliff. And I still couldn't get over the fact that Bea just saved me. Did that mean she was, watching? When I got over the edge the Butterfree dropped me on all fours. I stayed down to try and catch my breath.

When I looked up, the Butterfree was leaving.

"Th-thank you!"

"Free!"

It fluttered away. I crawled to look over the edge and peered down to see if Bea was there. She wasn't. I let out a small breath as the sound of the melting ice trickling down the rocks entered my ears. Vulpix ran up to me and rubbed its side against my leg.

Then I remembered why I was here. My pokeball! It would be such a relief to finally be with one of my pokemon again.

I turned around and stood up. It had to be here somewhere. I looked around. A tiny green ball caught my eye. I ran.

"My pokeba-"

My heart sank. I stopped running. That was definitely my pokeball. It lay on the ground, its case cracked, and the ball open.

Nothing was inside.

* * *

**-stbime**


	11. Chapter 11

I held the empty pokeball in my hand. How the hell did this happen? Melo told me the cases wouldn't break and our pokeballs would stay closed.

I ran my finger along the green case and examined it. What could have broken it? It seemed charred at the edges. Had a pokemon attacked it? I closed the pokeball and put it in my pocket. More importantly, though, which of my poor pokemon was loose and wondering around on this crazy island by itself? My stomach churned. I had to find it.

"Vul?"

Vulpix seemed to notice my distress. I sighed. I remembered Bea had told me I would be in for a surprise when I got to the top. Was this it? Had she seen my empty pokeball? I also thought back to how she had sent her Butterfree to rescue me. Did that mean she stayed to make sure I got up alright? Did she pity me? She had already found _two _of her pokemon. I hadn't found any.

I also thought about how she had just run into me like that. Did that mean I would most likely end up running into the others too? And did anyone else happen to be nearby? Questions flooded my mind.

I bit my lip and checked my radar. It was my only guide. Nothing. I sighed and looked around. A large, grassy meadow stood before me. There were small rocks and tufts of bush scattered along the terrain and a grove of trees in the distance.

"Vulpix!"

Vulpix had its nose in the air and then dashed suddenly towards one of the patches of grass.

"What is it?"

I followed close behind.

Vulpix sniffed through the shrub and pulled something out with its mouth. It was a sparkling green stone with the image of a leaf in the middle.

"It's a leaf stone!" I smiled. How amazing was that? "Now if only we can find you a fire stone!" I picked up the stone and tossed it back into the small bush, quickly dismissing the idea.

"We might as well start heading that way," I pointed into the distance. We had to get back on track.

Vulpix nodded. We walked. It hadn't even been a minute when I noticed that Vulpix had stopped. Its ears perked up.

"Is something wrong?"

I heard someone scream. I looked into the distance. A giant light flashed. Something was happening. The entire area erupted with a giant boom. I recognized the characteristic explosion though. It was a pokemon using self-destruct. And that scream had to be one of the top eight that was caught right in the middle of it. I had to help him.

Vulpix and I ran. It took us a minute to get close to the small grove of trees where the explosion had happened.

"Get back! Watch out!"

A guy ran out of the bushes towards us. He had blonde hair and his clothes were all black. He had leaves and twigs stuck all over his body. It was the only guy from the top eight I hadn't met yet. What was his name again? Vlad? He threw himself at the floor just as another massive explosion erupted in the trees behind of him.

"What the-"

Vulpix and I were thrown back.

"It's the Pineco! They've gone mad!"

I could hear the panic in his voice. Pineco were known for self-destructing.

"My Crobat's still back there!" he screamed. "He fainted and I couldn't get him!"

I thought for a second. Crobat was flying type. Pineco were bug type. He should have had the type advantage.

"One of the Pineco evolved into a Fortress and completely destroyed me. Crobat is useless against steel types!"

Pineco became bug and steel type when they evolved. That explained his Crobat fainting. That and the fact that the pokemon here were all on drugs or something.

I stood up.

"Bug and steel type? You got this, Vulpix!"

Vulpix shot up upon hearing its name. It took its stance and ran into the mess like the natural born hero it was. I got up and followed close behind. The second I stepped near the trees I heard a noise from my pocket.

_Beep!_

My radar!

"PIX!"

Flames bellowed from Vulpix's mouth. I had to focus on what was happening right now. I'd worry about the radar later.

Pineco started popping out from nowhere. No way Vulpix could handle them all alone. I looked back and saw Vlad right behind of me.

"If you can keep them back I can get to my Crobat!"

I nodded. "Vulpix!" I pointed to all he Pineco. "Keep them away!"

"Pix!"

More flames. Some of the Pineco retreated. Vlad dashed in front of me and ran into the mess.

"Pine-CO!"

I was blinded by a massive flash of white light as another Pineco exploded. Why were they so suicidal? I was thrown back and landed on the floor with a hard thud. I hoped Vlad was okay. I searched for his figure somewhere in the smoke and dust.

"PIX!"

More fire. What had I gotten myself into? I desperately needed one of pokemon right now. I didn't know how long it would take to find the one my radar just picked up though. Probably an entire day.

I felt something touch my leg. Vulpix had come back. It couldn't take much more. The Pineco were heading towards me and Vulpix. Where were Vlad and his-

"Crobat, Crobat!"

Two thin swords of wind sliced by and hit the Pineco.

"Now, fly!"

Crobat took off into the air, pausing for the slightest second before swooping back down and slamming into more Pineco. We were winning!

"Fortress!"

The giant floating steel ball pokemon appeared. I spoke too soon. It wouldn't go down easily.

"This one is all you Vulpix!" I whipped out my healer as fast as I could and pressed the button to heal Vulpix.

"Vul-PIX!"

The Fortress didn't even have time to blink. It was surrounded instantly by scorching flames.

"Tress!"

"Don't stop Vulpix!"

Vlad ran up to me.

"Let's get out of here," he said, returning his Crobat. "There are more coming I'm sure of it."

We turned around and ran.

"Alright Vulpix, come now!"

Vulpix stopped and followed.

When we reached back to the clearing we tried to catch our breath. I checked my radar. The signal had gone. I needed to head back in that direction to find my pokeball. I felt the empty ball in the side of my pocket. I didn't know what I was going to do about the pokemon that got released. I didn't even know which of my pokemon it was! It could be any of them! And it could be anywhere right now.

"Thank you for helping me."

My thoughts were interrupted. I looked up at the guy.

"Oh, you're welcome. It was nothing."

"I don't know what I would have done without you and your Vulpix."

Vulpix looked up when it heard its name.

"It's actually not mine-"

"Not yours? Whose is it?"

I smiled. "It's wild. I found it injured and I healed it. Then it saved my life when I was attacked."

He squatted and looked at the Vulpix. "It's a boy. You shouldn't call him 'it'."

I froze. "I didn't know that."

"Now you do." He got up and looked at me. "I'm Vlad." He held his hand out.

I shook it. "Jamie."

"Nice to meet you, man." He smiled. "How many of _your_ actual pokemon have you found so far then?"

I looked down. I didn't want to tell him about the empty pokeball.

"None," I said, "but I just got a signal while I was over there so I'm about to head back right now to try and find one."

Vlad nodded and smiled.

"Good luck then. All I've got so far is my Crobat." He looked at the black-cased pokeball in his hand. "And I've got another signal right now in that direction." He pointed in the direction opposite to the way I needed to go.

"Guess this is goodbye for now then, huh?" I asked.

He nodded. "You really saved my life back there." His gaze dropped to his feet and his light blonde hair swayed in the gentle breeze. His short hair was exactly like Anastasia's.

"Really, it was nothing."

He ran forward and hugged me. His long, thin arms wrapped around me as he pressed his chest into mine, resting his head on my shoulders. I hugged back.

"Don't even worry about it," I told him.

He let go and stepped back.

"I owe you," he said before running off in the direction he told me he was headed.

I watched him leave. Thoughts of my pokemon flashed into my head. I had to get to them. Starting with the one that just popped up on my radar. I turned to face that direction.

"Vulpix let's go."

I was determined. We walked back to where the Pineco were, though by now, mostly all of them were gone.

_Beep!_

My radar beeped.

"This way." I pointed.

_Beep!_

Huh? Did my radar beep a second time? I pulled it back out. Another flashing ball appeared on the opposite side of the screen. A second pokeball? It was approaching me. And fast. Was one of my pokeballs – moving?

* * *

**-stbime**


	12. Chapter 12

I stared at the screen blinking back at me and analyzed it. The first dot stood in the direction I was facing. The other approached me. How was it moving? It got closer by the second.

"Pix?"

Vulpix could sense my confusion. I screwed my eyebrows. It was getting closer and moving faster. Was a pokemon carrying it? Had to be. This was a good thing, right? My luck was changing.

It was almost right next to me. My heart raced. I turned around to look behind me. Nothing was there. I squinted my eyes and looked into the distance. Nothing. I checked my radar. It was supposedly right there. And getting closer. Why couldn't I see anything? My heart beat faster. It was _right_ above me.

_Above_ me! I looked up. A Swellow glided overhead, its wings spread as it soared with the wind. I saw something green in its claws, sparkling in the afternoon sunlight. My pokeball! It had to be!

"Hey!" I jumped up and down screaming at the red and blue bird pokemon, waving my hands in the air.

It kept flying, oblivious of my efforts.

"No!" I had to stop it. But how?

Vulpix looked up at me, then up to the pokemon that was flying further and further away.

"PIX!"

A burning ball of fire blast into the air.

"Vulpix no!"

Why did Vulpix attack it? I guess we didn't have a choice did we? The Swellow was hit. It dropped my pokeball and squawked, catching itself before turning around and heading straight towards us.

"Oh gosh now it's angry!" I dashed to where it had dropped my pokeball.

"Swellow!" It headed for us.

Vulpix ran in front of me and leapt into the air, shooting more fire at the bird. Why was he attacking _again?_ I guess we didn't have a choice either now. We asked for this fight.

The Swellow dodged the flames and swooped down, tucking in its wings to reduce drag and increase speed. It was almost as fast as Tyson's Honchkrow.

"Watch out!"

The Swellow slammed directly into Vulpix. It was a hard blow.

"Pix!"

Vulpix fell to the floor. The Swellow swooped and soared back into the air.

_Beep beep beep!_

My radar again! The pokeball Swellow dropped was close!

"Swe-LOW!"

I looked back. Swellow swung around and slammed its wing into Vulpix.

"Vul!"

Lava burst from Vulpix's mouth but the bird was already in the air preparing to unleash another hard blow. I had to help Vulpix somehow. He was getting destroyed! Swellow was an evolved pokemon and Vulpix didn't have a type advantage here. No way could he win! Plus with Swellow's speed?

"Vulpix!" He bellowed more flames.

Swellow swooped and went in for another hit. Vulpix was getting weakened and hurt. Badly. I had to help him. Something glistened in the distance. My pokeball! I had to get it. It was my only way to help Vulpix.

I turned around and scurried towards the pile of rocks where I saw the sparkle. I dropped onto my hands and knees and searched the floor for my pokeball. I had a better view of the ground on all fours. I had to find where it had fallen. It sparkled again, but this time I noticed that it wasn't green. Huh? I reached forward and grabbed the object. It was hot. I pulled it out and held it in my hands. It was a yellow crystal stone with an orange flame burning in the centre, its jagged edges gleaming in the sun. A-A firestone? This was impossible. We – we were saved!

"Vul!"

The Swellow sliced through the air and slammed its wings mercilessly against Vulpix as he let out another cry and fell to the ground. The fire fox lay lifelessly on his side.

"No!" I got up and ran to save Vulpix. Swellow was not getting away with this. I held the fire stone tightly in my hand, its sharp edges piercing the skin of my fingers the harder I squeezed.

The Swellow looked up and saw me running. "Swe!" It dove and grabbed onto Vulpix with its claws, digging them deep into the fire pokemon's orange fur while flapping violently to lift itself and Vulpix into the air.

"You can't take my Vulpix!" I screamed. Rage was building in me.

The Swellow rose higher and higher with Vulpix dangling in its claws. Why were these wild pokemon so vicious? And why was it taking Vulpix?

"Give me back my Vulpix!"

All I had to do was get the fire stone to touch him. If he evolved we'd have the extra fire power we needed. This was my last shot. I pulled my arm back as far as I could and flung the fire stone into the air with all of my might. All it had to do was touch Vulpix. That was it. My heart lurched into my throat as time seemed to freeze.

With a quick, easy motion the Swellow swerved instantly out of the way, dodging the stone completely. It continued flying further and further with Vulpix hanging helplessly in its claws.

I stood speechless as disbelief flooded my system. A warm tear ran down my cheek as I looked up and watched the fire stone glisten in the sun when it reached its peak in midair before tumbling back down and landing on the ground right in front my feet. Did that just happen? I blinked and looked up again as Vulpix disappeared into the distance. Pain stabbed through my chest.

That was the Vulpix that had saved my life. The Vulpix that saved Vlad. That Vulpix that was supposed to _stay_ with _me_!

Blood dripped from my hand where the tiny cuts had formed from holding the stone. I clenched my jaw and cursed. How could I have let this happen? I looked at the tiny scars along my fingers. I swore that I would rescue Vulpix if it was the last thing I did. I - I loved that Vulpix.

I wiped my hand on my pants, smearing the blood along my leg as I bent down to pick up the fire stone. Something shiny caught my eye. I grabbed the orange stone and put it in my pocket next to the empty pokeball that I had found earlier before walking over to the little shrub that had just glistened. I got on my knees and looked under it. There lay my pokeball, completely sealed, looking right back at me.

* * *

**-stbime**


	13. Chapter 13

I held the pokeball in my hands. It didn't feel real. I threw it up in the air. "Go!" My heart stopped beating. Anxiety took over. I bit my lip.

The ball opened and a giant flash burst from inside, releasing my Golem onto the ground in front of me. I fell to my knees and threw myself onto the pokemon. I had never been more grateful to see one of them in my life. I would be safe now! I felt my Golem's paw rest gently on back.

"We can do this." I got up and clutched the side of my pants. I could feel the warmth of the stone and the empty pokeball on the insides of my pocket. Looking at my radar again, I realized I might be in luck. The Swellow that had my Vulpix had flown off in same direction as my next pokeball. I looked at the blinking dot on the screen. I'd find them in no time.

I looked ahead and saw that the way I would be heading would lead me right through the colony Pineco I had rescued Vlad from. This might end up being harder than I thought.

I sighed.

"Golem?"

Golem could sense my growing frustration. I had no doubt my Golem could take down those Pineco with his hands behind his back, but I really didn't need any unnecessary explosions. Besides, it was dangerous. _Think. _

I remembered seeing how Bea had used her Glaceon to get down the cliff by making a staircase of ice. I had to think like that. I had to use my pokemon to my advantage. I had to find a way to get to the light at the end of the tunnel.

Wait, a tunnel! An idea struck me.

"Golem, I need you to use dig and get me past those trees. We can't make our way through them so we've got to go under them."

"Go." Golem nodded, and with a swipe of his paws he was underground.

I looked cautiously around me before hopping into the hole after my rock pokemon.

"Lem." Golem continued digging.

I followed closely behind, ducking so dirt wouldn't get into my hair. The further we went, the darker it got.

_Beeeeeep._

Huh? I checked my radar.

"Golem?" My pokemon stopped and looked back at me.

The radar was blank. The dot that formerly represented my pokeball was gone. The entire empty screen stared back at me. Lazaro's voice popped back into my head. It was when he made the announcement on the speaker as soon as I had landed on the island. The radars were made to work at ground level. There was no signal underground. I cursed. How was I supposed to know how far to go and when to go back up?

"Don't worry Golem just continue."

I was going to have to estimate it. The last thing I wanted, though, was to pop up in the middle of a Pineco firework festival. I continued walking.

The sound of something plopping down behind me caught my attention. I stopped and looked back. Nothing was there. Nothing that I could see, at least. It was dark and silent. I decided to ignore it and continue.

I didn't want to be down here for very long. What if the pokemon that had escaped my pokeball was on the loose right above me and I was under here unable to find them? What if Swellow had dropped Vulpix somewhere? I didn't want to end up walking right past my little fire fox. Or under him, rather. Vulpix was taken for trying to help me get my pokeball. I owed him. Every second I stayed down here made me more and more anxious. What if Vulpix was up there? Plus, if any random pokemon happened to use earthquake while we were down here, we were dead. The more I continued the more stupid my idea of coming down here sounded. I was an idiot.

I heard tiny rocks crumbling behind me. I shot back. Again, nothing. A cold sweat broke out along my forehead. Something was back there. I couldn't stay down here.

Golem continued savaging his way through the soil. I hopped a step and stayed as close behind him as possible, checking my radar again, just in case. Blank.

"Golem, let's head back up. I don't want to stay down here any long-"

There was a small crash in the dirt behind of me.

"Sparce!"

I turned around, nearly stumbling over the rocks beneath me. It was a Dunsparce. The yellow slug stared back at me gruesomely. Why couldn't the wild pokemon here leave us alone?

"Sparce!" The pokemon leapt into the air and flipped its body around, aiming its spiked tail right to my legs.

I jerked out of the way as fast as I could before feeling a sharp pain slice through the side of my thigh. I whimpered.

"Golem get it!" The little rat.

I held onto my leg in pain. Dunsparce was a normal type pokemon that knew mostly physical attacks. It didn't stand a chance against Golem.

"Brick break, now!"

Golem moved from where he was digging and swung at the small pokemon with his giant glowing paw. It was a direct hit. The Dunsparce cried out in pain. It felt good to have one of my pokemon with me. I had this match in the bag. It was probably the easiest one yet.

The Dunsparce slowly lifted its head, flapping the tiny, pathetic wings on its back.

"Golem, again! It's super effective!"

Golem's paw glowed as it slammed into the slug's weak, soft body. Why was it just sitting there, allowing me to attack it? I guess all the pokemon here weren't as scary as I originally thought.

The Dunsparce got back up again. How had it not fainted yet? Persistent little things they were. When I looked it could barely move. Its body was scoured with dirt and bruises. This was wasting my time.

"Golem, leave it. Start digging up. I want to get out."

Golem nodded and left it. He returned to where he was digging and started with a gentle slope I could climb that would lead to the surface. _Almost there_, I thought.

"Spa-ARCE."

Golem and I looked back. The Dunsparce stared at us with its mouth open in the middle of a massive, sleepy yawn. It was going to sleep?

"Go-lem…"

I looked at my pokemon. My _Golem_ was going to sleep.

"No!"

It had used yawn. _Shit. _

"Golem wake up!"

Golem's eyes shut. His arms and legs tucked themselves into his body automatically and he rolled right past me and back down the slope.

The Dunsparce was so badly damaged it could hardly crawl. Its body started glowing. What was it-

It jumped up and slammed into my sleeping Golem. Almost instantly bruises started forming on my pokemon's rock body. Golem suddenly looked weak and battered. Its entire body was draining of energy. What move _was _that? I thought.

Endeavor. I knew it. It brings the foe's life down to equal the user's. That's why it allowed itself to get attacked. I didn't know wild pokemon came up with strategies like that! Golem had to wake up soon. At least the Dunsparce was still badly damaged too.

Dunsparce flapped its wings and glowed again. It appeared to settle into the floor and its bruises began disappearing. _Roost?_ How the hell had it learned that? My heart started beating. I had to do something.

The healer! I opened the healer and pointed it to Golem, pressing the button. Nothing happened. _Huh? _I pressed it again. Nothing. I slapped myself in the forehead. They were solar powered! _Oh shit oh shit oh shit. _

The Dunsparce leapt into the air and dove deeper into the soil, digging its own little tunnel. Great. It knew dig, too. That was super effective.

The place was silent. I could hear my heart beat echoing through the walls of the dark tunnel.

"Golem wake up!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. It was useless. I had to get to the surface and charge the healer.

I turned around and scrambled up the slope. It killed me to leave my Golem behind. I felt my chest tightening. I'd be back for him in two seconds. I couldn't believe a _normal_ pokemon was beating _my_ Golem! This was senseless!

"Sparce!"

I heard Dunsparce break through the soil and slam its body into Golem. I cringed.

Pain shot up my leg. When I looked down I realized I was bleeding profusely. The cut Dunsparce had given me was covered in dirt from trying to dig my way up by myself. Blood dripped down my leg but I didn't have any time to tend to it now.

I turned back to digging and pushed away rock after rock, cursing myself for being so stupid. How could I have put myself in this mess? I started digging at a steeper slope. I didn't have time. I had to get up there as fast as I could. Sweat and dirt stung my eyes. I could feel small rocks hitting against my injured leg as I continued digging. My arms ached.

Then I saw it. Tiny specks of light shone between the rocks. The surface! I scurried up, tearing away through mounds of soil before breaking free to the surface. The late afternoon sun beat down against my face. Along with the startled stares of a small colony of Pineco. My heart stopped.

"Pineco."

_Boom. _Explosive lights expanded viciously, knocking me over onto my back as one stupid Pineco detonated after the other. My vision blurred as the sonic boom of each explosion entered my ears. I could feel the trees catching on fire as more and more white smoke filled the air.

Something bumped the top of my head. I looked back to see the faint, smoky silhouette of a giant pink blob standing behind of me. I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my jaw, awaiting the inescapable pain that I knew was soon to follow before my fear and utter anxiety caused me to instantly blank out.

* * *

**-stbime**


	14. Chapter 14

I was being poked. Constantly and repeatedly. I rolled onto my side in hopes it would stop. It didn't.

"Fable?"

I was poked again. My eyes opened wearily. "Oomph-"

I put my palm on the ground and lifted myself up. Looking back, I saw the towering pink blob of a pokemon that was there before I passed out. Why hadn't it killed me?

"Clefable."

Was that – _my_ Clefable? I scrambled to my feet and looked around, ignoring the pain shooting up my leg. Remembering the Pineco, I searched the trees. Nothing was there. The place had been smoldered. Damn erratic explosives.

I looked at Clefable again. She stared back at me. I reached slowly for the empty pokeball in my pocket, pulled it out, and pressed it. A red beam of light shot out and hit Clefable, sucking it into the pokeball.

It was – mine. My Clefable! I found it! I held the ball in disbelief for a while. A strange warmth surged through me. It was like catching my first pokemon all over again. I smiled from ear to ear, throwing the pokeball up and releasing my Clefable.

The second she got out she ran up to me and knocked me over, squeezing my waist tight. A tear ran down my cheek. I hugged back.

"Fable Fable Fable!"

Clefable pulled herself off of me and allowed me to get up. Then I remembered Golem.

"Golem! We have to help Golem!" I ran to the hole I had come up from and jumped in, holding on to my injured leg and trying not to whimper.

Clefable followed right behind me. Golem lay in the middle of the tunnel at the bottom of the slope, knocked out. The Dunsparce was gone. I still couldn't get over how a bloody _normal_ type could have done this! And a weak one, too.

Shafts of light entered the tunnel now that I had broken through to the surface. I pointed the healer towards Golem and pressed the button.

The healer was stupid, I thought. If it didn't work in the dark, that meant I couldn't use it at night. That was ridiculous. I'd have to cover my ground during the day and camp out during the nights. Until I had enough pokemon to last through the night, that is.

My Golem glowed and stood up. I threw myself onto his rock body and hugged him.

"I'm so, so sorry," I muttered.

Golem hugged me back. "Lem."

We stood up and climbed out of the tunnel, me limping most of the way. Dirt had all but caked up the entire scar on my thigh. Dried blood ran down my leg. I looked around. There was nowhere to wash it. I held onto my leg and groaned.

"Fable?" Clefable looked down and inspected my leg. The cut wasn't _that_ deep. It was just dirty. And probably infected. I'd be fine.

Clefabe didn't agree. "Fable." She pushed me into a sitting position on the ground and lifted my leg up before beckoning Golem over and using his paw as a foot rest to keep my injured leg elevated. I swore sometimes she thought she was a Chansy.

"Clefable I'm fine!"

"Fable!" She glared me.

"Okay, okay, I'll be quiet." I sat back and sighed. I loved my Clefable. She was probably one of the best pokemon I had ever raised.

I watched as she used ice beam to form a big block of ice on her paws. She held it over my foot. Gentle flames then escaped her mouth as she melted the frozen solid block with a weak flamethrower. Cool drops of water rolled onto my leg, wiping the dirt away as they trickled over my skin. I winced though. It stung.

Clefable was ingenious. Back when I was still in my early days of training, a lot of the other trainers crucified me for using so many TMs on my pink prodigy. But I didn't see TMs as steroids like they did. Rare candies were steroids. TMs were merely the key to unlocking a pokemon's full potential, and they were there to be used. Combined with its own raw strength and refinement, my Clefable became brilliant.

Water was pouring now from the block of ice. My whole leg was clean and the wound looked fresh and sparkling. I beamed with pride. My pokemon were brilliant.

Looking down again at the wound, I realized I needed something to wrap it. The sun was just beginning to set too and we still needed to find a place to rest for the night. A gentle breeze blew through the air, rustling the giant leaves of the trees above us. I looked up. Gosh those leaves would be perfect.

"Fable." Clefable was already on it. She was staring up at the same leaves I was, pointing at them with her tiny paw. "Ble!" A small jolt of electricity from a mini thunderbolt left her claws and zapped the stem right where the leaf was connected. It tumbled to the ground.

The leaf was thin and soft. I grabbed it and wrapped it around my thigh, tucking it in at the end and pulling my shorts down to cover as much of it as possible.

"Thank you, Clefable," I said getting up.

"Cleh." She nodded.

"Now to find the rest of you." I pulled out the radar. It was working again.

I remember how it had lost signal when we were in the tunnel. I'd have to be careful of that. The dot was back on the screen now, staring me in the face. We had gotten a little closer, but not much.

I looked ahead of us. We were approaching the shoreline on my left. If I was facing north, that meant I was near the west coast, and according to the size of the island, I probably hadn't yet reached the middle. How long would it take me to reach the next pokeball? Another day?

I saw some trees in the distance too. I had to remember to try and track the Swellow that took Vulpix. Maybe it had a nest in those trees with babies or something. I shuddered. I hoped Vulpix was alright.

I started walking.

"Lem!" Golem ran up to me and picked me up, throwing me on his back.

I laughed. "Thank you for the ride, Golem!"

Clefable followed and we set off. The terrain got rockier and rockier, and the trees grew further apart. The sky burned an iridescent orange and the sun began to make its way down.

The view from Golem's back was amazing, but I knew I didn't have time to worry about views. We had to find shelter for the night. And the more I thought about finding shelter, the more our only option kept popping into my mind. Underground.

We were out in the open up here. Not many trees, and nothing to hide under. Except the ground. A plan began to formulate in my mind. I was going to take precautions this time. I didn't care how stupid they made me look. I had Clefable, and she was a source of ice, fire, electricity, and water if I could melt the ice.

"Alright guys, we gotta do this and do it quick." Nightfall was upon us.

They looked at me confused.

"We've got to build a shelter!"

"Fable!" She clapped.

"Lem." Golem nodded.

"Woah!" I grabbed on to the spaces between his rock plates to stop myself from falling off. "Try not to nod while I'm still on your back next time!"

We all laughed and set to work after walking a good distance. Golem dug a small, slanted tunnel, not too deep or long, then started digging around himself, to create sort of a room under the ground. I crawled into the tunnel and made my way into the room. I made sure its ceiling was thin and close to the surface, so we could tell if danger was nearby. Clefable came in after me and breathed fire along the walls of the room and tunnel, melting the dirt and rocks to form a hard stone seal when they cooled. That way, no other pokemon like Dunsparce could dig their way into the room. Once the three of us were in, Clefable sealed the entrance with a thick coat of ice, one that shouldn't melt too quickly if the sun wasn't out. To camouflage the giant ice-sealed hole, we melted some more ice in the dirt and made mud, then smeared it along the underside of the seal. It stuck.

We – were – brilliant.

I let out a deep breath and plopped my worn out body down at the edge of the cave, leaning my back against the hardened wall and grabbing a food pill for dinner, swallowing it dry. "You guys should probably rest up in your pokeba-"

"Fable." Clefable shook her head, interrupting me. She came and lay down next to me, resting her body against the side of my legs.

"Lem." Golem walked over slowly and sat at my side, tucking his arms and legs into his body.

"You, you guys-"I tried protesting. Clefable reached up and put her paw to my lips, politely asking me to shut up. Soon we were all drifting off to sleep. "I - I love you guys."

* * *

**-stbime**


	15. Chapter 15

Soft thuds could be heard above me. I woke up slowly. Clefable was sleeping upside down, legs sprawled up in the air. Typical. Golem hadn't budged an inch. More soft thuds came from the ground above. It was probably some random pokemon walking above us. Then the scrape of someone's shoe. A pokemon with shoes?

I shook my head violently to wake up. It was obviously someone else. A person. One of the top eight. I rubbed my eyes and remained silent as they continued walking over us.

Then suddenly they stopped. I could hear a voice.

"Does the ground feel, hollow to you?"

It was a male. Who was he talking to? His pokemon? I held my breath, keeping as quiet as I could. All I could hear was the sound of ice melting. It had to be morning already if the ice was melting. The ice we had sealed the entrance to the cave with was trickling, forming tiny rivulets of the cold melted water. There was a steady drip echoing softly in the tunnel.

"And that patch of ground looks awfully funny."

_Thud. _

Huh?

"What is _up _with it?"

_Thud. _

Was he _jumping_?

_Thud._

What an _idiot!_

_Thud._

I heard a crack. This wasn't good.

_Thud._

The entire layer of ice smashed and whoever was above came tumbling down into the tunnel with it. He screamed.

I got up quickly and grabbed my pokemon. They shot up and took a step back with me as the boy rolled over.

"What the hell-"

"Skar!" A Skarmory dove into the hole after him and grabbed his arm in an attempt to lift him. He put his palm on the ground for support and stood. Our eyes immediately connected.

"You."

I shuddered. It was the guy who had knocked over Lydia. The jerk. What was his name? Sol? My pokemon relaxed.

"Guess we should be more careful where we jump, hm?" I spat at him.

He rolled his eyes and turned around to climb out. "You're a coward for hiding down here."

I screwed my eyebrows but before I could respond he continued.

"It's rather pathetic really. And you _obviously _don't care about finding your pokemon if you're wasting the night away down here sleeping. In fact-"

"Shut up!" I screamed. I looked at his Skarmory as it helped him out. It had a massive gash that started from its body and trailed onto its wing. It looked fresh.

He looked back at me.

"I'm down here because I value my _life." _I told him._ "_And above that, I value my pokemon's lives. And if this makes me a coward then so be it."

He laughed as he pulled himself out. I followed him up, my eyes glued to the dreadful scar that laced the side of his steel bird. Why hadn't his healer healed the scar? My mind flashed back to Vulpix. Vulpix had a scar across his eye from whatever attacked him before I found him even after I used the healer. Had his Skarmory been attacked that badly too?

"You don't even deserve to be here."

I was thrown back, my thoughts halting in their track. "What do you mean I don't deserve to be here?"

He snickered. "You didn't even win your last match."

I bit my lip and my nostrils flared. He was talking about the competition. "I deserve to be here as much as everyone else," I spat back at him.

Why was this kid being so hostile?

My pokemon climbed out of the hole and stood in front of me. They stared angrily at Sol and the injured Skarmory that was at his side.

"You don't deserve to win this competition. You can't _handle _becoming a Battle Centre Leader when these things open. You're _weak_." he continued.

I glared at him and clenched my fists.

"In fact, I could take you down with my hands behind my back."

I could feel the hairs on my neck standing up.

"Then fight me!" I retaliated, "One on one." My blood was boiling.

His eyes sparkled. "I thought you'd never ask."

The sun had just risen and was low in the early morning sky. He grabbed a pokeball from his belt and threw it into the air.

"Skuntank, go!"

I turned to my Golem behind of me and nodded my head.

"Get 'em."

Golem growled and walked menacingly up to the giant white and purple striped rodent. It snarled its teeth at him.

"I bet you think you've got this," Sol laughed. "Toxic, now!"

Purple gunk flew into the air.

"Golem move!"

Golem barely had to step out of place. All of the poisonous goop missed and splatted all over the ground.

"I see your accuracy is about as great as your personality, huh?"

Golem and I laughed. He looked up at me with a glint in his eye, the globs of poison lying on the ground surrounding Golem.

"And I see your intelligence just about matches your battling skills!" he retaliated. There was a smirk in the corner of his mouth.

I looked quickly at the Skuntank and saw tiny embers escaping its jagged toothed snarl. Then it hit me. Toxic was flammable.

"Skuntank FLAMETHROWER!"

The Skuntank opened its mouth like a blast furnace releasing bellows of raw hot fire, lighting the toxic and surrounding Golem in flames. I grunted, biting my lip harder. The giant blaze flickered and lashed out at Golem, but he remained focused. We had to get out of the flames.

"Golem, use dig! Burrow yourself out of it!"

With a few mighty slashes Golem was underground.

"Follow him!" Sol called out.

_What?_

The Skuntank leapt over the flames and dove straight into the hole Golem had dug. My heart stopped. Was that even legal? No pokemon had ever done that before in a match.

"Fill the hole with toxic!"

My eyes widened even more and the fire continued to burn.

"Get out of there, Golem!"

I stood baffled. Fire and poison were both not very effective against Golem yet he was using them so well against me. It was time I went offensive.

Golem burst through the ground with force and shot himself into the air, massive globs of gunk following after him. I had taught Golem to gain height like that. Arial positioning was always advantageous.

The gunk spewed out as the Skuntank surfaced, right beneath Golem.

"Golem now, stone edge!"

It was a direct hit. Giant stones crashed into the dark purple pokemon.

"Now brick break!"

Golem descended, landing directly on top of his foe, slamming the side of his paw against its body. The Skuntank cried out in pain before its legs gave in and it dropped to the floor.

Golem stood and lifted his head to the sky, proud. I snickered.

"Guess that didn't take much."

He cut his eye at me. "One win means _nothing_."

I decided to be decent. "You're battling is pretty impressive you know, considering you had a type disadvantage."

He was pointing his healer toward his fainted pokemon when he stopped and looked up at me. He turned away instantly and avoided my gaze, snorting and continuing to start the healer on Skuntank. "Y-yeah, whatever."

Golem walked over to me, Clefable patting him on his back. I held up my hand to him and smiled as he high-fived me with his paw.

"Good job buddy."

Sol was stooping down next to his Skuntank when he looked up at me again. His eyes were narrowed. He returned the Skuntank to its ball and stood, walking towards me. His Skarmory was not far behind.

"I'm Sol." He held out his hand.

I was thrown back. I wrinkled my eyebrows and looked at him, confused. "Aren't you supposed to do that _before_ you pick a fight with me?"

He rolled his eyes. "Are you going to shake my hand or not?"

I snapped back and quickly grabbed his hand in a firm grip. "Jamie," I said.

He nodded. "Try not to get eaten." He turned and walked past me with his Skarmory.

I wrinkled my eyebrows again. That kid upset me. I looked at Clefable and Golem. They shrugged. I pulled out my radar and looked at it. No sense waiting around here. Looking back, I saw Sol disappear into the trees where the Pineco lived. I scoffed. And just like that I moved on.

Ahead of me small hills plagued the field, gently rolling, each one steeper than the next. We headed up. As I walked I felt something uncomfortable on my thigh. I pulled up my shorts and remembered the leaf I had wrapped around my injury. Clefable ran over and helped me unwrap it. The wound still looked fresh. She turned the leaf over and used the other side to wrap it back. I'd have to get a new leaf soon.

"Fable." Clefable nodded towards Golem.

Golem trotted over and shoved his paw under my foot, heaving me onto his back.

"Woah!" I steadied myself against his stone body. "I'm not a baby, you know!"

Clafable laughed at me. "Fable fable!"

"I'm not!"

Golem laughed too and continued walking up the small hill. I huffed and sat back, trying to enjoy the ride. I kept looking at the radar. At the rate we were going, my pokeball should be somewhere after the next hill.

"Clefable?"

I looked over at my pokemon. Her ears were perked up as if she had heard something. I could hear it too. Faintly. It was a weak roaring sound. As we took our last few steps and arrived at the top of the hill, we saw it. The vast, open ocean filled our view and the sound of suicidal waves crashing against the rocky cliffs entered our ears. The barely risen sun shone eternal gleaming rays that glistened along the ocean's surface.

"Cefable."

I looked to see what she was pointing to and shielded my eyes as a massive white light was reflected into them. I covered my face and looked again, and there it was. A massive silver dome stood at the cliff's edge, larger rooms with giant glass walls lining the other side. It was the lab. Huge electrical fences edged the boundary, a single gate forming the only entrance right at the front. I had a clear view of the massive lock that hung from the handle of the gate, shining a bright silvery white in the sun's rays. The lab was magnificent.

We headed slowly towards the entrance, simply because it happened to be on our way, and the giant fence began to loom over us. My stomach started feeling woozy as I checked my radar. The pokeball should be right over the next hill. I was almost there.

The sound of someone shouting caught my ear.

"The white one is yours," the all too familiar voice yelled.

My gut sank. It was - Anastasia.? But what was she doing on the island?

I saw a slender hand reach through the gate and grab the lock, fondling its underside.

"Guys, quick!" I whispered. I grabbed the pokeballs from my pocket and returned my two pokemon, diving behind the nearest boulder to hide and listen.

With a loud _clunk _the lock came loose and the blonde woman stepped out, Aerodactyl at her side. Two girls followed after her, each standing with their hands behind their back.

"And the brown one is yours."

The girl on the left nodded slowly and held her hands out. Anastasia plopped something small, round and brown into her awaiting palms. It looked almost like – a pokeball, covered with a brown case.

"Now," Anastasia began.

I looked at the two girls. They were both the same height with dark green hair pulled back neatly with a head band.

"I take it you remember what we discussed earlier, hm?"

Both girls nodded simultaneously.

"You show _no_ mercy."

I held my breath and listened.

"You take no prisoners."

A soft morning wind blew, gently lifting up their short skirts.

"You focus on what we discussed about your future, yes?"

They nodded again, completely in sync.

"Your identities remain a _secret."_

She handed them what looked like a pokemon healer and a radar.

"And you find out exactly what we asked for."

Their hazel eyes glistened in the sun, the golden brown mixing with the minty green. The breeze blew through their short, olive-coloured hair as they bowed at the waist.

"We won't disappoint you," the one on the left said.

"We promise," the one on the right finished up.

They turned and ran, heading eastward. A direction perpendicular to where I was headed.

Low rumbles caught my ears. The whirring of a massive propeller nearby picked up as I turned to see a giant helicopter take off from inside the lab right behind Anastasia. She faced it and crossed her hands over her chest, looking up as it rose into the sky, her short blonde hair flying all over the place. I gripped the rock I was hiding behind so I wouldn't fall over from the gusts of wind blown about by the hovering copter.

I turned to see where the two girls were, but they were already out of sight. The helicopter took off in the same direction. Anastasia's glaring eyes of death followed it until it was out of sight.

When it had left, I saw her lean forward. She looked left, and right, and left again. I held my breath and bit my lip, sinking further behind the rock so as not to be seen. Anastasia huffed and turned around, walking back into the gate with her Aerodactyl following behind of her, and closed it. She fumbled again with the lock until it snapped shut, then proceeded to walk back to the lab.

* * *

**-stbime**


	16. Chapter 16

I sighed and slumped to the ground, leaning my back against the boulder I was hiding behind. What _was _that? And why did it seem so fishy? And who _were_ those girls Anastasia was talking to? My suspicions of her started growing again. I didn't know what to think.

For now, though, I decided I'd focus on what was at hand. I felt for the sharp fire stone digging into my thigh from my pocket. I had to find Vulpix, _and_ the rest of my pokemon. And on top of that, I wanted to win this competition. I had to find them fast. It shouldn't be too hard. There are eight of us and there will be five Battle Centres once they start to develop the island. Only three of us will lose. And I refused to be one of those three.

A small cackling sounded from my wrist, halting my trail of thought.

"Attention." A voice came from the speaker on the healer. It was Anastasia.

I brought the healer to my ear as quickly as I could and listened as more cackling sounds came though the tiny speakers.

"Top eight," she gave a little snicker, "I hope I find you all well and alive this morning."

I bit my lip. What could she possible have to tell us after sending those two girls out into the island? She probably thought no one had seen them. I narrowed my eyes and listened.

"I am pleased to announce that our initial quantity of contestants has been fully restored."

_What?_

She continued. "Two new contestants have been added to our competition, on the strict basis of our judgment alone, and will be participating in the race to become Battle Centre Leaders."

Silence. I waited.

"They have each been given one pokeball to start with to compensate for their late entry and a helicopter set off this morning to scatter the rest of their pokeballs."

I sat back in shock. I didn't believe one single word of it.

"The top eight has officially become the top ten again." She paused. "May the - warfare, continue."

And with a soft crackle her voice was gone.

Two new contestants? Some of the words I heard Anastasia tell them flashed back into my head. There was something up with them. They weren't just contestants. Were they? They were up to something. Anastasia was up to something. But _what?_

I got up and stepped out from behind the boulder, ready to inspect the entrance of the lab. I doubted I'd even find anything.

_Beep beep beep. _

I could feel an excited pulse surge through my waist from where I kept the radar. I grabbed it and looked at the tiny blinking dot. It was so close! I released Golem and Clefable and we ran straight past the giant metal lab gate and up the next hill.

"Clefable!"

"What?"

Golem ran up to me and picked me up, tossing me onto his back. I rubbed my knees from the rough landing.

"Thanks, you guys."

Golem hiked up the hill like a pro, especially when it got steeper than I expected. I remembered climbing the cliff up Bea's icy stairs with Vulpix. If I had Golem at the time, getting up there would have been a piece of poffin.

As the hill's peak grew nearer, I could feel the mid-morning sun shining against my body. Golem's stones were cold though, and I could feel the contrast on my skin. Clefable walked ahead of us and reached the top first.

"Fable fable!"

"What is it?"

We reached the top and looked down. A massive sparkling lake spread out in between the hill I was on and the one after it. The valley was wide, and the lake connected two streams. One led to the ocean, and the other, on the opposite side of the lake, led deeper into the island, twisting along the hollow hillside valleys.

The water in the lake was still. It shone like a blue mirror, staring back up at the sky as the sun's rays reflected on its surface. I scanned the sandy shore for any sign of my pokeball. Nothing. I frowned and bit my lip. One of the bushes near the lake rustled and I turned quickly to see what it was. A small, rust coloured, foxlike pokemon crawled out from under the shrubs and carefully approached the shore. Vulpix? It leaned carefully forward and drank slowly from the crystal waters.

Clefable must have seen me staring. "Clefable?"

The Vulpix's ears turned immediately and it looked back. Our eyes connected. The jagged scar that ran down his face remained indisputably there. I blinked a couple of times in disbelief. Flashes of that evil Swellow picking up and carrying Vulpix away popped back into my head. I remembered Vulpix saving me from the psychotic Sunflora and Vlad from the suicidal Pineco.

Vulpix cocked his head to the side as I jumped off Golem's back and stood at the top of the hill, looking down. The small, auburn fox shook his head and called out.

"Vulpix!"

I ran down the hill to where he sat back and waited for me to reach. He looked tired and worn. I wondered how he had managed to get away from the Swellow on his own. Grabbing the healer, I knelt down at his side and stroked the warm fur on his back.

"I cannot believe I found you!" I pressed the button and watched as Vuplix's health slowly returned. Then I noticed something missing. I looked back and saw my two pokemon staring at me from the top of the hill. I closed my eyes and hit my head softly. "Guys come down! This Vulpix is friendly!"

Clefable ran down and I laughed. Golem followed, plodding behind at his own pace.

"Vulpix saved my life before I found you guys." I scratched him behind his ears. His fur was warm. Warm like the fire stone in my pocket. I instantly reached down and grabbed it, holding it up to the sky. "Hey Vulpix!"

Vulpix had begun talking with Clefable and looked back at me when he heard his name. He saw the fire stone in my hand and backed away slowly, shaking his head.

"Vul." His eyes lowered.

I brought my arm down and rested the stone on the floor. Its flame dazzled in the light.

"You don't want to evolve?"

Vulpix turned his head away. I didn't know whether or not he understood me. I looked at Clefable. She nodded and turned to Vulpix.

"Fable fable."

"Vul!"

"Clefable fable." Clefable brought her arms up and tensed her muscles.

I nodded. "It will make you so much stronger, Vulpix."

"Pix." He shook his head.

I never understood why some pokemon just didn't want to evolve. Evolving unlocks their full potential. I see the whole emotional aspect about wanting to stay who they are, but evolving shows who they can become, and pushes them to their ultimate capabilities. I thought about the Pikachu that destroyed the arena and stopped my match in the final battle of the competition. What was a powerful trainer like that still doing with a Pikachu? If it had evolved, I bet none of that might have happened. I was sure of it.

Vulpix looked away. I picked up the stone and tucked it back into my pocket.

"You're fine."

Vulpix looked at me and I smiled.

"I won't make you do anything you don't want to."

Clefable nodded. "Clefable."

Vulpix leapt up and rubbed his head against the side of my leg. His fur was so soft.

I decided I'd forget about evolving Vulpix for now, though I couldn't get away from the thought of having a beautiful and elegant Ninetails at my side. Then another thought struck me. I also couldn't lose him again. An idea popped into my head.

I dug into my pocket and took Clefable's pokeball with the broken green case. I slid my finger under the crack, and with a little force, the whole thing came off. The radar didn't pick up signals if the pokeballs with their cases were on me, but if I found a way to attach the case to Vulpix, and he went missing, I'd be able to track him down using the radar.

I ran to one of the nearby bushes and pulled off a thin vine. I strung it through the case and walked over to Vulpix.

"Here," I wrapped it around his neck, tying a knot at the back. "If you keep this here, I will always be able to find you."

"Fable." Clefable translated.

Vulpix looked up at me and nodded, the small green case dangling from his neck. I smiled. How attached was I growing to this pokemon?

I glanced around the shore for my pokeball. It was nowhere to be seen. Wild pokemon started filing in from all across the lake and walking up to its shore. Girafarig, Donphan, Taurous and Executor began lining the lake's edges in large groups. They nearly filled the entire circumference. I became uneasy. I didn't trust any of the pokemon here.

I backed up slowly onto my Golem but the wild pokemon seemed not to notice me, and just as I thought were going to attack, they leaned forward one by one and dipped their tongues into the water to drink. I stopped and cocked my head to the side. The Girafarig spread their long front legs to be able to lower their neck and reach the cool water. Donphan dipped their entire trunks in and swallowed water by the gulps. A group of Executor right next to us stood in the shallow area and splashed their leaves. This had to be a common watering hole.

The prickled hair on the back of my neck lowered and I loosened my grip on Golem. Not that he felt it anyway. The lake's smooth surface rippled gently at the edges from the drinking pokemon. And as more pokemon came, the giant lake filled up. Crowds of Exeggutor teamed the shore right in front of us.

I grabbed my radar and looked at it again. Then I looked up. My pokeball was _in_ the lake. It had to be. Couldn't be anywhere else. I slowly let out all the breath in my lungs and rubbed my temples. How _convenient. _Clefable, Golem and Vulpix all looked up at me. None of them were water type, and on top of that, Golem and Vulpix couldn't really get very near the stuff to begin with. I'd be relying on Clefable an awful lot for this, and she wasn't exactly an Olympic swimmer.

I sighed and looked up at the swarms of pokemon gathered at the lake. Them being there also wasn't exactly making the situation any less complicated. I had to think. The only thing that came to mind was building a raft. The pokeball didn't look too far, and I could probably paddle out with Clefable and dive in to get it when we reached. It couldn't be _that_ deep. Could it?

"Fable, fable fable!"

I looked at Clefable and saw she was pointing out to the lake. When I followed her paw to see what she was looking at, giant ripples sounding from the lake's centre caught my eye. Some of the pokemon stopped what they were doing and looked up. A few turned and ran. Soon all of them stopped what they were doing and became alert. The ripples were getting larger and larger. I stepped back and grabbed onto my Golem again.

Suddenly a massive blue tail flung itself out of the water and slammed down hard against the surface sending large waves thundering throughout the lake. The pokemon let out their cries and scattered. They began running away, startled by the sudden waves. The tail erupted once more and slashed the water, rearing up another round of massive undulations.

The Exeggutor that were in front of us turned around and charged. _Shit. _

"Golem help me!" I was hit. Before I could grab Golem's arm, another fat, clunky palm tree slammed into me and sent me flying. Everything fell out my pockets. My radar fell and hit the ground with a loud _crack. _My two pokeballs landed and rolled into a bush and the fire stone tumbled all the way towards the shore. Before I even had time to think an Exeggutor bent over and rammed into me with its head. I grabbed onto the leaves and hung on for dare life as it carried me up the hill.

"Clefable help! Flamethrower!"

The Exeggutor that was carrying me got hit head on by a full blast of fire.

"Exeggutor!" It screamed and fell, and I crash landed face first to the ground, but not to the dismissal of the others.

The rest of the herd stopped and turned back. There had to be at least ten of them, and before I knew it egg bombs were being hurdled at us.

The explosions scared away the rest of the pokemon that may have been nearby, and as soon as the smoke cleared, I saw my Golem charging through and slamming its body onto one of the Exeggutor.

"Tor!" The leaves on one of the Exeggutor's heads started whirring as a giant leaf storm brewed.

Great. This was turning into a battle.

"Golem get away you won't survive that!"

The leaf storm hit instantly and sent Golem flying back.

"No!"

Vulpix sprang forward and bellowed hot flames from his mouth.

"Clefable help him!"

The Exeggutor shrieked as the two flamethrowers combined. I tried to stand up but winced and fell back down as a sharp pain shot through my ankle. This wasn't good.

Another Exeggutor started concocting a leaf storm too and fired it directly at Clefable. Clefable took the blow and shot her flames right back. Golem was lying on his side and wasn't moving. Grass was a double weakness for him. I had to get to him and Clefable with the healer.

"Vul-PIX!" Vulpix leapt, dodging another egg bomb, and landed directly on top of the Exeggutor that threw it.

We were out numbered.

The Exeggutor that Vulpix was on started glowing. Its eyes turned red and Vulpix was lifted slowly into the air. If they started using psychic moves we were done for. It flung Vulpix across the field, landing him right next to the lake and slamming him onto his side.

"Vulpix no!"

More giant waves erupted from the centre of the lake. Something was in there and it was going crazy. And these startled Exeggutor were taking it out on us!

"Fable!"

Clefable was lifted into the air. Her fire stopped. Another leaf storm was forming around the Exeggutor. Clefable was slammed into the ground, but she got up instantly and blasted the tornado of leaves with a ball flames.

We needed more fire power.

"Vulpix come back! We need you!"

I looked over to the choppy lake, its waves unceasing now, and saw Vulpix struggling to stand up. I had to help him. I braced my hands onto the floor and hopped up onto my good leg. I had to get to all my pokemon with the healer. I sprint limped over to where Golem was lying down, dodging an egg bomb on the way. I pressed the button as fast as I could and healed him.

"Golem, dig! Now!"

The second my boulder pokemon woke up we burrowed underground.

"I can't risk you getting hit again. Just keep using dig and attack from down here!"

Golem nodded. "Lem."

"Now take me to Clefable!" I hopped onto his back as he burrowed deeper then shot back up to the surface. I let go of him and landed on the floor. He continued with the momentum and slammed his entire body into an Exeggutor before instantly diving back to the ground and burrowing once more underneath it and out of sight. Just like I had taught him a few years ago. My heart beamed with pride. We still had it.

"Fable!" Clefable jumped in front of me as more flames erupted from her mouth, incinerating another leaf storm that had been heading straight towards my face.

I fumbled for the healer on my wrist and pressed the button. As Clefable was restored to full health, I could physically see her flamethrower nearly doubling in size.

I turned and hopped up just in time to see Golem burst through the ground and hit another wild Exeggutor. I ran towards the lake, putting as much of my weight as I could on my good leg. Then I saw my radar on the floor, screen cracked. I scrambled to get it and shoved it quickly into my pocket before I felt myself being lifted into the air.

"Woah!"

The Exeggutor's eyes were glowing. I struggled to get loose but to no avail. I felt like something was compressing my entire body as I was lifted further up. My limbs glowed and I could not control them.

"Vul-PIX!" Vulpix shot a blast of fire at the Exeggutor that was holding me and I felt myself immediately start falling. When I looked down, the small fox leapt into the air underneath me. I grabbed onto his back and he landed gently with me dangling over him, my knees slamming to the ground and breaking my fall.

"Exeggutor!"

Three of them approached us. Vulpix spat fire at them but I knew he wasn't strong enough. Then one of them started charging. I struggled to get to the button on my healer but before I could press it, the Exeggutor rammed right into my torso. I was hurdled into the air and then held there with another psychic. I felt the pressure all over my body again. Why was I so useless?

I had to find a way out of this mess. I saw Golem burst up and hit another one of the fat trees but it wasn't doing much to them. As the three Exeggutor approached Vulpix, I saw leaf storms building from the palms above them. I struggled. I had to help Vulpix or this wasn't going to end well.

Clefable jumped in and scorched them with her flamethrower, distracting them momentarily from Vulpix. The leaf storm fired and the razor sharp blades hit Clefable head on. I tried to scream but nothing came out. I needed Vulpix's fire power to help, but he was too small. It was no use.

Egg bombs exploded all over Clefable, halting her fire. Golem leapt into the air once more only to be struck directly by what looked like wood hammer. The Exeggutor butted its wooden body into Golem and slammed him to the floor. What the hell was I going to do now?

I felt the psychic energy that surrounded me starting to loosen and I fell to the floor. I broke the fall with the palms of my hands and landed on my side. I rolled over and winced, facing the lake where I saw Vulpix surrounded by the Exeggutor. He leapt into the air and sailed clear over their heads, landing gracefully right in my view. I pushed myself up onto my elbows and watched as Vulpix quickly approached something shining luminously on the shore line. He looked at me and our eyes connected for a split second before he leaned forward and touched the glistening object with his nose.

His entire body glowed a brilliant, blinding white and its form started changing. His body doubled in length and the six golden tails that once trailed behind him started splitting and growing longer. His head narrowed, majestically stretching out, nose pointed into the air and front paws planted firmly to the ground. As the glow faded, I saw the dazzling white fur that coated his entire figure. His head lowered and his teeth gnarled, and with the process finally complete, he turned and gave his undivided attention to the Exeggutor.

I must have been in denial the entire time because I still couldn't believe what I just saw.

The newly evolved Ninetales growled, tiny embers escaping from the sides of his mouth. He reared back and spread his massive fan of white furry tails out behind him, opening his mouth and spewing an absolutely enormous discharge of pure scorching flames. This wasn't an ordinary flamethrower. The fire circled the foes, consuming them in the burning inferno. It was fire blast. The flames lashed out and formed a giant, jagged cross, slashing and burning the leaves of the screaming Exeggutor. The smell of burnt chlorophyll filled the air as Ninetales continued bellowing flames from his open mouth. The Exeggutor stomped wildly, turning in circles and rushing to escape the burning conflagration.

Ninetales shut his mouth and the flames died down. The white, regal fox stretched his neck into the air and cried before dropping to the floor, landing on his side in valiance. The Exeggutor fled up the hill and disappeared into the distance.

* * *

**-stbime**


End file.
